D.F. Confidencial. (F.D. Confidential)

This collection chronicles what happens in Mexico City's guts when the tourists are not looking: dog fights, robberies, murders, and more. Such is the city that more that 20 million people experience every day. The book starts with an interesting essay that explains the importance of the narrative in both journalism and literature. Servín argues that the narrative is especially useful for shedding light on the complexities of everyday life-journalists and authors must immerse themselves, almost like undercover agents, in a specific situation in order to be able to witness it and recount it. The stories in this book are the result of years of observation by Servín: he's been drunk in the cantinas, he's spoken to robbers, he's been in every single place he talks about in his chronicles. Each account reveals a deep knowledge of the situation he is describing and is full of the coloquial words chilangos (Mexico City natives) use. For instance, in "Los herederos del Diablo" he describes the underground world of dog fighting, how well organized these events are, how the dogs are trained, and even how much money is involved. In "Bienvenidos a la ciudad Plantón," he narrates the peculiar sit-in that paralyzed Mexico City's most important streets for months after the presidential elections of 2006. The left-wing candidate and his followers claimed to have won the elections and took over the streets, where they would spend the entire day "defending democracy," while millions of people and businesses had to find a way around their sit-in in order to continue with their daily activities. An essential read for everyone interested in learning more about Mexico; highly recommended for bookstores and libraries.—María Elena Cruz, Boston