Las llaves de la ciudad. Un mosaico de México. (The Keys of a City: A Mosaic of Mexico City)
Reviewed by María E. Cruz, New York City -- Críticas, 5/15/2008
Lida, David.
Mexico: Sexto Piso, dist. by B&T. 195p. 2008. ISBN 978-84-96867-24-6. pap. ESSAY
Previously published in several Mexican newspapers, the chronicles collected here present the stories of 29 people living in one of the most populous cities in the world. Lida, an American-born journalist and fiction writer who has lived in Mexico City since 1990, lets the protagonists speak for themselves, using a simple and direct language. Ranging from a billionaire housewife to a professional detective to a tabloid writer, these individuals offer a mosaic of compelling and intimate narratives that describe different aspects of everyday life in the city. In “Nota Roji,” for instance, the owner of the main map-publishing company explains how he manages to stay in business in a city where the vast majority of the citizens don’t have maps (they prefer to ask for directions) and, most interestingly, how he makes the maps. In many cases, Roji says, streets don’t have an official name, so his employees must ask the inhabitants of each street to agree on the name. “Detén el tiempo en tus manos” (“Stop Time in Your Hands”) tells the nostalgic life of a 79-year-old trío singer who was famous in his youth but for the last 25 years has been singing alone in bars and restaurants. This book is an outstanding work of journalism and writing. Through real stories, Lida offers what countless literary works cannot supply through fiction: a key into the depths of Mexico City.
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