The Road to Guadalupe: A Modern Pilgrimage to the Virgin of the Americas

This is an outstanding book!Eryk Hanut brings to his work the imagination and artistry of an alchemist storyteller. His prose is clear, elegant and easy; His sense of observation is sharp but kind and never superficial, absorbing as well as intelligently sympathetic; In short, "The Road to Guadalupe"is one of the best books I've ever read, a unique perspective on Mexico and on faith, explored with the most eloquent style><br>Ruth Ann Dorey

The Road to Guadalupe: A Modern Pilgrimage to the Goddess of the Americas, by Eryk HanutIn this amazing work, Eryk Hanut, as modern Everyman, undertakes a spiritual journey to discover the truth at the heart of Guadalupe, the presence so beloved by Mexico (where she resides) as well as much of the rest of the world. His odyssey is at once magical. spiritual, fantastical and--at times-- hysterical. For Mexico, as he quickly discerns, is no single entity, no homogenous reality. It is, on the contrary, a mix of wild disparates-beauty and squalor, reverence and fakery, potent icons from the past and modern kitschy variations for sale at the temple door.Along the way he encounters a cast of characters worthy of a Fellini movie: a hopelessly vain faded beauty who resembles "a mummified wedding cake"; a prescient witch who reveals to him unnerving facts about his past; priests who drone endlessly before a throng of the devout who move humbly forward on their knees, in awe at the presence of the divine being they have come here to celebrate. The object of their devotion-and the goal of Eryk's search-is the Virgin herself, whose image is mysteriously imprinted on the renowned tilma, the simple peasant's cloak once worn by Juan Diego, which has survived intact through many centuries, by some process which science is helpless to explain. We soon perceive that Eryk comes equipped for his adventure with the three requisites for the authentic spiritual voyager: a pure heart, an honest eye, and a willingness to be open to the unexpected, in whatever form. What he discovers delights and perplexes, as his odyssey unfolds at ever deeper levels of Mystery and contradiction. This work is part travelogue, part historical narrative, and part spiritual exploration. In a bravura performance, Eryk deftly fuses the levels and achieves a truly remarkable revelation of the archetypal search set within the banal realities of the modern world. Mexico City is ever present in brilliant evocation, with its constant stream of hallucinatory images and bizarre figures, as if point out the pervasive spiritual grotesquerie which characterizes of our times. Yet, this same city harbors the miraculous image imprinted on the tilma, visible proof that the transcendent flouishes within the material realms.Eryk yearns to experience the numinous through authentic connection with sacred reality, the ultimate divine feminine. The challenges he faces are those which traditionally confront all such pilgrims, and indeed, together they comprise an allegory of the ills which beset modern society itself, and prevent us from claiming our rightful spiritual heritage.He must literally wade through the sea of hawkers and clamorous purveyors of spiritual tinsel to enter the cathedral (our obsession with materialism which distracts from spiritual progress?) Inside, he encounters the hierarchy, the male representatives of the establishment so reminiscent of our own omnipresent authority

At last. At last a book that is what it claims to be. At last an author whose congruency shines in every word and between every word. At last a HUMAN journey for, with, and in search of the divine. No detail is missed, no simple solution or candy-coated solace is sought, no doubt is shirked, no one and nothing is spared his scathing scrutiny and wit. This is it. This is Mexico. This is the journey of the thoughtful and the faithful. It is all seen and told with an acute sensitivity, a true and wicked sense of humor, a brilliantly refined and down-to-earth sensibility, and with a rare congruency that includes the reader in every emotion, every taste, and every spell on so many levels that it fills your senses and your heart with every word. I believe this writer. I believe his faith. I believe his struggle. I believe he could not have written this story, this way, without being exactly who he is on the pages. This book manages to BE a pilgrimage. It does not describe a journey to the sacred tilma in Mexico city. It IS the journey. Mr. Hanut managed to evoke the place, as if casting one of the spells, he includes from his journey. This book is a magical adventure that does not end. And Mr. Hanut is a practiced and effective guide in the land where story becomes myth, myth becomes religion, and religion becomes daily life in all of its darkness, as well as its light.

What a remarkable book!! I have never read anything by this author but I am interested in Mexican folklore. I just could not put it down; What extraordinary ambiances, colors, smells and spells dance in this book!Mr Hanut is a storyteller- in the same vein than Theroux or Chatwin; I can't wait for the next one!!

"The Road to Guadalupe" is a heart-warming and healing treasure. Author Eryk Hanut weaves the timeless tale of the enormously revered Virgin of Guadalupe with his experiences as a modern day pilgrim in Mexico City. The fragile, poignant and miraculous story of the Mother's appearance to an illiterate peasant runs counterpoint to Hanut's dusty, wise and scintillating account of the host of eccentric characters, from charlatans to diamonds in the rough, that surround her shrine. It is this mixture of earthy and Divine that makes the book so utterly unique and delicious. I marveled at Hanut's use of English (not his first language) in "I Wish You Love", the story of his relationship with Marlene Deitrich. In both books, he delights the reader with stunning metaphors. Although "The Road to Guadalupe" is a narrative, the author's disarming observations as poet and photographer dominate the vivid writing style, leaving his audience breathless and eager to turn the page in search for more of his jewels. His lazer sharp sketches of unforgettable characters will blaze in your memory, long after the book is reluctantly closed.