The View From Casa Chepitos

The View from Casa Chepitos

San Miguel de Allende

Struggling to free itself from a century of economic decline and stagnation, the town of San Miguel de Allende, nestled in the hills of central Mexico, discovered that its "timeless" quality could provide a way forward. While other Mexican towns pursued policies of industrialization, San Miguel--on the economic, political, and cultural margins of revolutionary Mexico--worked to demonstrate that it preserved an authentic quality, earning designation as a "typical Mexican town" by the Guanajuato state legislature in 1939. With the town's historic status guaranteed, a coalition of local elites and transnational figures turned to an international solution--tourism--to revive San Miguel's economy and to reinforce its Mexican identity. Lisa Pinley Covert examines how this once small, quiet town became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to one of Mexico's largest foreign-born populations. By exploring the intersections of economic development and national identity formation in San Miguel, she reveals how towns and cities in Mexico grappled with change over the course of the twentieth century. Covert similarly identifies the historical context shaping the promise and perils of a shift from an agricultural to a service-based economy. In the process, she demonstrates how San Miguel could be both typically Mexican and palpably foreign and how the histories behind each process were inextricably intertwined.

The Chihuahua Always Sniffs Twice

In this humorous cozy mystery, a PI and her talking Chihuahua probe the case of an inheritance left to dogs only to find a dead lawyer. Aspiring PI Geri Sullivan’s new case has got her talking Chihuahua, Pepe, hot under the collar. Wealthy widow Lucille Carpenter left her entire fortune to her beloved dogs, and someone is trying to poison them. Anyone who would hurt a perro is lower than a cucaracha in Pepe’s book. But when Geri and Pepe investigate, they discover that it’s not just the coddled canines who are in danger. Now there are human targets too. At the lavish Carpenter manor, Pepe digs for clues among the pampered pooches, bitter relatives, suspicious staff, and larcenous lawyers. But there's only one diminutive detective smart enough to save the day—and the dogs . . . Praise for The Chihuahua Always Sniffs Twice “Perhaps the greatest achievement of this series, written by the writing team of Waverly Fitzgerald and Curt Cobert, is just how easily the reader succumbs to the premise of an intelligent, talking dog. . . . This latest in the series continues to delight readers and dog lovers with an often outrageously feisty Chihuahua, a sympathetic and resilient heroine, and a riotous plot that is entirely original and ultimately all comes down to the value of family.” —Kings River Life Magazine Help Support Pet Adoption See Details Inside