Six Months In Mexico
Nellie Bly
Read by James K. White
This is an account of Nellie Bly's travels through Mexico in 1885. The book was originally a series of individual articles that she submitted to the Pittsburgh Dispatch newspaper for publication. In them she described the conditions of the people and the political system she found in Mexico. Her narratives focused mostly on the impoverished and disadvantaged in a country whose government was extremely corrupt.
Bly was perhaps what we now term a feminist, striving for the empowerment and independence of women. She certainly pioneered the field of investigative reporting. Nevertheless, Bly's journalistic objectivity is often tainted by an uninformed, 19th-century, "gringo" world view.
Bly's travels in Mexico ended abruptly after the Dispatch published an article she wrote exposing that government's ill treatment of another journalist who criticized the regime of President Porfirio Diaz. Bly's Mexico articles were later published in book form in 1888. (Summary by James K. White) (8 hr 13 min)
Chapters
Reviews
A mixed bag.
Alan H.
Clearly the author did not much like Mexicans and it shows. Sometimes this tone is subtle, hut often it is glaring. Many remarks could easily offend, but might also make one laugh. I usually tried to laugh. Sprinkled amongst the racism are a great deal of interesting "facts". One of these "facts" is that Marijuana puts the smoker in ecstasy for 5 days. After that, I no longer tried to commit any of the "facts" to memory and just went along for the fun. Which is my recommendation to you from the start. The narrator is inhumanly perfect and accent-neutral (I kept picturing a Vulcan). He also smoothly transitions into textbook Spanish pronunciation where required, then back again. This guy is good! Somehow, he made the book even funnier.