THE TEMPEST, THE SHADOW & THE LUNATIC written & bound by Alex Appella
paperback edition, $38	hardback collector's edition, $180
This accordion binding encases three short stories from our travels through Mexico and Central America. The Tempest is an encounter with Javier and Silvia who lead us to a high sierra town of few words and many mushrooms. The Shadow is of a hitchhike ride with Patricia in her mini-van that left us in an ancient Zapotec village. The Lunatic is a window into selling books in the plazas of a broken Nicaragua. Each story illustrated with photos taken by the author at the time the events occurred. 4.25 x 5.5 inches. Paperback editions begun late 2000. Hardback collector's edition: Production began in July of 2008. Each numbered book is housed in its own travel box.

...The streets of Teotitlán were cobblestone and the adobe was painted. The cars had sleek-haired Zapotecs smiling in them. Signs in English advertising rug workshops procreated from ornate metal arms.

'This town had already been around for a good long time when they first began selling their weavings to the Aztecs,' Patricia explained. 'Then they sold weavings to the Spaniards, then to the Mexicans, and now to the tourists. There!' she pointed to a Matisse design, 'see how they do it?' The streets were a forest of magic carpets roaming at every angle. Back in the shadows, the enormous looms murmured business over their feet planted as the color, texture, and intent of the earth below them.

'This is the middle,' said Patricia. She pulled up in front of a widish cobblestone plazita lined with stalls of rugs for sale on either side. 'A few blocks in each direction and you’ve more or less seen it all. It’s worth it to knock on a window or two, these are good people. They’ll set you straight.'

I slid the door open and hopped out. Jaibo untangled himself from his guitar and pack and asked, 'When should we meet you back here?'

'When you have the gift of vision like Beatriz does, 15 minutes is plenty of time to visit with a bruja. I went to a different bruja once in Tlacolula and she-bueno. I get distracted, that’s why I’m always late. See you in 15? Sí?'

'Sounds perfect,' Jaibo answered.

Patricia looked pointedly at her two companions in the front seat and asked, 'You two want to see Teotitlán?'

When Ana and Rosalba didn’t answer, their arms sealed together with perspiration, Patricia whispered loudly, 'They want to see what the bruja looks like. She’s just an old lady, they’ll be disappointed.' With that, Jaibo and I slid the door closed and waved them off.

It took three or four minutes to sink in.

That we just let an absolute stranger drive off with all of our possessions, all that made the trip comfortable. A pot. A cookstove. Warm clothes for the high places. Safety pins. Socks. A minimized collection of the most handy...

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