"For many Americans, Mexico conjures up images of violence and sensuality, resulting in an oddly seductive sense of anxiety. In his debut collection, David Lida captures the mixed emotions this Latin American country evokes among its northern neighbors, dramatically illustrating what happens when Mexicans' and Americans' expectations of each other are fulfilled - or turned inside out.".

"In "Bewitched," a woman journalist finds more realism than magic while interviewing a witch in a backwater swamp. "Regrets" depicts a gay video producer who shows an American graduate student around Mexico City and leaves him with a souvenir he will never forget. In "Acapulco Gold," a nine-year-old boy living on the streets of the resort city learns the price of rescue when he finds it in the form of an opportunistic American.".

"The diverse characters also include a CIA spook contemplating his return home after a Mexico posting, a penny-pinching British tourist determined to have a miserable time on his vacation, and a Mexican of Eastern European descent who considers herself a "JAP" - an acronym that, in this instance, stands for "Jewish Aztec Princess.""--BOOK JACKET.