Mexico: Feast and Ferment

Juxtaposing Mexico's indigenous roots with its heritage from Mediterranean Spain, this volume of 250 powerful photos, as novelist Fuentes ( The Old Gringo ) explains in his perceptive introduction, ``offers us the dual possibilities of the Mexican psyche.'' Edmunds ( Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon ) avoids cliched views. He varies perspectives in portraits of Mayan temples and gods and shows local vendors intruding on the glowing vistas of Puerta Vallarta. Proceeding in rough geographical fashion, from north to south, Edmunds interpolates mini-essays--the best part of the book--on such topics as the colorful, commercialized masks of the Day of the Dead and a quiet small town touched by current U.S. culture. Sometimes sacrificing coherence for eclecticism, Edmunds's photos reward the reader with much diversity, from Indian fertility rites to Mexico City street culture. (Mar.)