¡Tequila!: Distilling the Spirit of Mexico

By: Marie Gaytán

Narrated by: Darren Roebuck

Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Italy has grappa, Russia has vodka, Jamaica has rum. Around the world, certain drinks - especially those of the intoxicating kind - are synonymous with their peoples and cultures. For Mexico, this drink is tequila. For many, tequila can conjure up scenes of body shots on Cancún bars and coolly garnished margaritas on sandy beaches. Its power is equally strong within Mexico, though there the drink is more often sipped rather than shot, enjoyed casually among friends, and used to commemorate occasions from the everyday to the sacred. Despite these competing images, tequila is universally regarded as an enduring symbol of lo mexicano.

¡Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico traces how and why tequila became and remains Mexico's national drink and symbol. Starting in Mexico's colonial era and tracing the drink's rise through the present day, Marie Sarita Gaytán reveals the formative roles played by some unlikely characters.

Like all stories about national symbols, the rise of tequila forms a complicated, unexpected, and poignant tale.

The book is published by Stanford University Press.

©2014 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (P)2016 Redwood Audiobooks

A great social history of Taquila!

this book was fantastic for trying to understand to kill his role in Mexican culture.

Read it instead!

The book and subject matter are great, highly insightful and accurate. The guy who is reading it mispronounces just about every Spanish word which is irritating and jarring to anyone who knows the Tequila world. Probably better to just read in print.

Great book -dictation not-good

The narrator did not research prior to reading. He missed pronounced all of the Spanish words with a combination of Anglo and French pronunciation. This was very of putting and distracting for the content.It is imperative in a book that covers a lot of cultural content for the narrator to be at least minimally versed and open to proper pronunciation.

Solid Book!

I enjoyed the book. It gives you a broad view on Tequila and it’s history. If you want to gain some understanding of this complex spirit this book is a good place to start.

Maybe a different title

It would have been more appropriate under a more fitting title. It almost struck me as a research paper that a college kid was required to write about tequila as the main subject, but the writer really had more of an interest in feminism, sociology, etc. Whereas it does have very interesting history on tequila, it felt to (at bare minimum) 1/3 to 1/5 of the book was about topics other than tequila, but the writer felt like if they kept interjecting the word "tequila" periodically then they were still remaining close enough to the intended topic for it to be relevant. Honestly, after the 1/3 of the book it felt like a chore to finish the rest.

Maybe a little Preachy

Maybe a little Preachy. Seemed like she wanted to get a point across, I wish it was more simple fact and history.

Academic. Not Really a Party

If you are looking for an academic discussion of the history and sociology of tequila, then this is your book. If you’re looking for a fun book about tequila, look somewhere else.

Great Educational Book

Loved the read, very in-depth analysis of the cultural and political influence of tequila. If you're a history buff, it's a must read.

Potential for being a good book

It started about tequila. It should be titled differently. Also, narrator can’t pronounce most of the tequila or other Spanish words used in the book. Normally it doesn’t bother me but it is so bad that it gets kinda annoying actually.

Just a hint of Tequila

This book has some interesting information about tequila but strayed a little too far from the topic at hand for me. It felt a little like the writer wasn't that interested in tequila but felt relating it to their other passions would help the story appeal to more people. Still in the market for a good audio book on tequila.