I've lived in "Mex." on and off for years. So, I always read books about the country with a critical eye.
I judge travel guides against what I know to be true about a place from personal experience.
Mike Nelson knows what he writes about, and there's not a single piece of advice in the whole thing that will get you into trouble, get you hurt, or get you killed. He does a really fine job of explaining all the paperwork, and the legalities that you have to deal with if you're going to do anything more than make a quick pop over the border and go right back home again.
I suppose if there's a legitimate complaint, it might be that he doesn't cover any particular place, any particular city in great depth, but if you think about it, you want a compact guide book that you can toss into your luggage or tote around without getting stoop shouldered.
He even has sections on where to find AA groups, or whether a place is friendly to gays, and he gives decent advice for straight people, too... For the record, I don't have a drinking problem, I'm not gay, and I've already got a "novia", so I'm not even looking for a lady friend right now. But SOME people--maybe a whole lot of them--will need this information that you really can't find easily on your own with only tourist Spanish under your belt, so I'm glad he's got it in here.
I think this is the best Mexico guidebook around.
