In spite of its title leading one to believe that Cosas: Folk Art Travels in Mexico is a survey or scholarly writing on regional traditional art forms found in Mexico, the work is a very personal memoir of journeys through parts of Mexico over a period of more than twenty years.

The author, Linda Grant Niemann, a railroad worker on both passenger and freight trains, becomes intrigued with the life of Mexican migrants who, like her, work on the Southwestern railway system. Curious about her co-workers, Linda decides to venture south of the border, often accompanied by friends, many of whom are also her lovers; she meets and befriends Americans and other expatriates who have fallen in love with--and settled in--Mexico. Each encounter leads to further meetings and adventures in different parts of this widely varied country. Perhaps the most relevant information on Mexican folk art is that each new friendship offers the possibility to explore yet another shop, market, or small village specializing in a unique regional Mexican craft: straw furniture from Pátzcuaro (63); figures cut out from bark paper from San Pablito (79); rebozos, for which Santa María del Río (San Luis Potosí, 103) is famous; Oaxacan alebrijes, small wooden sculptures originally made from papier mâché (188); or Catrinas and other papier mâché dolls that tourists buy at the market (88) and that locals use on Day of the Dead altars.

In 2000, the author accepted an academic position at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, settling down and becoming a scholar (226); far from abandoning her exploration of Mexico, her former experiences encouraged her to share travel with her students who, I am sure, benefited immensely from her accumulated knowledge and observations of a country she learned to love.

Though unabashedly mixing some information on crafts with very personal reflections on love and its difficulties, on friendship, and on haphazard meetings, the book nevertheless offers an interesting but limited set of details on a variety of enduring regional Mexican crafts. It is far from an encyclopedic overview of Mexican handmade objects and intangible culture, or an ethnographic description of a number of visited communities; it reads more like a set of reflective entries in a journal, with some compelling visits to remote villages and conversations with Mexican traditional artists.

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[Review length: 380 words • Review posted on September 20, 2018]