Adler is a professor of Social and Political Science and it shows in this book. Her book is very similar to Patrick Oster's "The Mexicans". Both intend to accomplish the same goal: show readers how political situations in Mexico affect everyday lives. Adler's book is much more analytical in nature and thus more appreciated from the academic point of view. Adler paints a somewhat rosier picture of the society than does Oster and is a bit drier in writing but does an excellent job in providing historical and analytical facts while making suggestions for change in Mexican politics.

Mexican Lives by Judith Adler Hellman is an amazing and important book, which focuses on the lives of Mexicans; ranging from the rich and poor, urban and rural, north and south. The author gives an insight of the truth of every Mexicans struggle. A great book to learn and enjoy about the government dealing with political issues. I personally did not enjoy this book, but I highly recommend this book to readers that are interested in politics and governmental policies.

I take a group of graduate nursing students to Oaxaca every year for a two-week language acquisition and practice experience. Previously I used a collection of articles from popular press and health care literature to provide background. Now, I use Mexican Lives to prepare these students with excellent results. I cannot imagine a better reading assignment of this type for the students. To me, it is a perceptive, thoughtful and beautifully written book.

Ms. Hellman doesn't make the effort to at least pretend to be objective when writing this book. For those readers who have read articles or books using Marxist analysis, you'll recognize the leper's bells of Marxist analysis here as well (e.g., emphasis on class, on "contradictions" etc.). As an added bonus, Ms. Hellman throws in some anti-U.S. commentary (not all of which is undeserved however). In short, he book lacks an insightful method of addressing Mexican social and economic problems, and is seriously outdated both in terms of methodology as well as in terms of history.