Publisher's Synopsis
A travelogue, a coming of age story, a gritty philosophical reflection; a clear-eyed, passionate study of culture, nature, and the mind. With sex, drugs, violence, mental illness, tamales, and sensitive poetry, and, in this edition, an in-flight magazine containing literature and visual art by Sylvia Van Nooten, Matjames Metson, Evelyn Holloway, Yvonne Brewer, Faith Shearin, Martina Reisz Newberry, dawn zahra, Ronnie Niedermeyer, Dave Santander, Barbara Joan Tiger Bass, Tamara Miles, Jonathon Miller Weisberger, Jamie Clark Jones, Vassilis Galanos, and Raymond Soulard. "Nathan D. Horowitz's 'Gateway Mexico' has the fine subtitle 'Adventures of another gringo who wanted to be a shaman, ' which conveys well what the book is about, and also the mixture of seriousness and irony which makes the book very worth reading. The adventures of the youthful, naive, first-person narrator, who is also called Nathan and may well be more than just an alter ego of the author, lead us through Mexico and Ecuador, always in search of peyote and ayahuasca. His wondering, often self-doubting view, and his experiences with flora and fauna and with the indigenous communities where he seeks shamanistic experiences and healing from the pain of the world, shape the mood of this book, which recalls a little Carlos Castañeda, a little Wade Davis' phenomenal 'One River.' Ciro Guerra's film 'The Embrace of the Serpent' also comes to mind when reading." -- Wolfgang Ratz
