Even Rick Skwiot Likes It!

Rick Skwiot won the Hemingway First Novel Award and the Willa Cather Fiction Prize. He's the acclaimed author of Sleeping With Poncho Villa and Death in Mexico. So, I was a bit nervous when he reviewed my newest book, but apparently it doesn't suck. Here's what Rick wrote immediately after breaking Fresh Wind - er, breaking open Fresh Wind.

A uniquely witty and perceptive take on Mexico - Fresh Wind & Strange Fire: One Man's Adventures in Primal Mexico again shows Lyn Fuchs (who previously authored Sacred Ground & Holy Water) to be not just a mere travel writer, but also a practical philosopher à la Montaigne, with a dash of Henry Miller's American humor and sexuality.

Fuchs' work also stands out for its refreshing iconoclasm. Such as when, poorly prepared to tackle a frigid Mexican mountain, Fuchs is outfitted by other obliging climbers, and writes: "Wherever I go I encounter unflashy ethically conscientious people: an undervalued global resource. Never before has society been so judgmental of politically correct speech yet so undiscerning of morally correct action."

One must, however, question Fuchs' sagacity, and sanity, when he arranges to interview a Mexican drug lord - though he comes to his senses mid-interview and realizes what a dumb venture he has wrought. The sequence, like other episodes, is both hair-raising and hilarious. Bottom line: Fuchs writes of his adopted homeland, Mexico, with love, vigor, wit and a discerning, unsentimental eye.

Thanks, Rick, for your greatly esteemed literary perspective. I would inquire about what may or may not have occurred when you were "sleeping" with Poncho Villa, but dead men tell no tales and fiction writers tell nothing else. Whatever happened between you two lonely desperados in the Mexican desert stays in the Mexican desert.  

I urge readers to check out Rick's San Miguel De Allende, Mexico: Memoir of a Sensual Quest For Spiritual Healing. Books written with a manly voice like this are dangerous contraband to the New York literary cartels, but there are distribution networks originating within the Amazon willing to transport this mostly harmless escape to gringos with cash. Still, you didn't hear it from me.