"Writings from having traveled overland from Alaska to Costa Rica."

About the book:
In October of 1999, my husband Magú and I left Juneau, Alaska, and traveled overland through Canada, the west coast of the USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and arrived to Costa Rica in April of 2000. We began the trip in an old Subaru which we sold in San Francisco after putting 5,000 miles on it. It was so rusted out we could watch the road go by under our feet and the gas tank was essentially a bucket. Our mechanic’s advise in Juneau? “Just fill it half way, you shouldn’t have any problems.” Interesting advise when one is about to descend through Northern Canada in Fall.

After San Francisco, we delivered a borrowed motorcycle to its owner in San Diego. He then gave us a ride to the Mexican border. From there on down south we depended on buses, hitchhiking, the occasional raft and certainly our feet to get us where we needed to go. As we traveled we sold our books in the plazas. The original version of this book, unillustrated, was born somewhere in Michoacan. Typed, photocopied, and hand sewn. Temptations of the Frijolera Pot relates true stories and reflections experienced on this memorable journey.

From Costa Rica, Magú and I flew back to Magú’s home of Córdoba, Argentina. When we arrived, we met up with Silvana, Magú’s sister, who had just returned from a bike journey with her husband through Northern Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. I gave her a copy of Temptations of the Frijolera Pot, and she surprised me a few weeks later by returning it to me, fully illustrated as you see here. In Temptations, you can see Silvana’s journey reflected in our journey, as her illustrations reflect my words, and vice versa.

About the bindings:
48 full color illustrations of over 20 poems, color off set printing. All acid-free materials.
4.75 x 8.5 inches.
Each of the 240 numbered copies (120 in English, 120 en Español) are being hand-bound by the author in a wide array of designs and materials.
Editions begun in 2001.

About the Author:
Alex Appella, originally from Oregon, began binding her books on a boat in Alaska, with the idea that original literature should be accessible, both for the writer and for the reader. After traveling half-way around the world with a mini-bookbinding workshop on her back (including a typewriter), and selling her artist’s books on the streets and plazas of Latin America, Alex now creates them in her studio in Argentina, and offers them through internet. Alex’s varied collection of artist’s books can be found in public and private collections throughout the US, and beyond.

About the Illustrator:
Silvana Appella de Gonzalez, originally from Córdoba, Argentina now resides in Valencia, Spain where she is a successful tattoo artist. Silvana received her MFA from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (Argentina) in 1993. Her art can be found on paper and on skin in the most surprising of places all over Latin America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and beyond.