Don't waste your time

In my opinion this book is almost a total waste of time. From the start the author misrepresents SMA (“a smattering of ex-pats”? Every other source I've seen says that it is known for having a large and significant ex-pat community). I find his style smarmy and disgusting (The hotel manager’s daughter and later one of his own renters are described in lecherous and demeaning terms, as if they're ‘asking for it’.)

Most abysmally his knowledge of Spanish is so substandard that he continuously misunderstands and misrepresents what transpires. (Rematar is not "to kill twice"; rematar is to “finish off or to put out of one's misery”.) His self-serving, all knowing, superiority about Mexican language and culture, and indeed all language and culture, make me shudder to think that someone might read this and believe that it represents mainstream truth.

It’s hard to believe that something so sloppy could be published, yet the author’s back page bio seems credible. It would be interesting to see if this is representative of his normal quality or just a knock off for a special audience.