Oaxaca Journal

by Oliver Sacks

"Ferns are what lured Oliver Sacks to Oaxaca, but those who know him will expect his journal to be filled with much more - and they won't he disappointed.". "It's a diverse, casually erudite assemblage of professional and amateur botanists who gather in this extraordinary corner of Mexico, each bringing a different perspective and fresh insights to the endeavor. And what a richly varied part of the world! Whereas New England has a hundred fern varieties, the Oaxaca area boasts nearly seven hundred; village marketplaces sell at least two dozen kinds of chili pepper, from mild to mind-bogglingly hot. Here too is a bird-watcher's paradise teeming with avian life, and an archaeologist's dream filled with ancient ruins that echo with pre-Columbian legend. And this is where the New World gave the Old World the delicious gift of chocolate, once reserved - on pain of death - for Aztec royalty.". "Day by day, as Sacks and his colleagues explore, new sights and discoveries spark surprising, enli