Before I start... I was a student in photography when Mendoza taught there but never took one of his classes (to be honest I wasn't nearly good enough to take his advanced classes. My goal was for slightly artistic photojournalism so I chose to minor but didn't even finish that before Ohio State tore down the walls of the photo faculty and rolled them into the art school So my actual contact was listening to a guest lecture that was clever, honest and funny I have been a fan ever since.)
For a little perspective on Mendoza I recommend his website which refreshed my memory of his lecture and helped me see the photographs with his dry narration in my head.
OK, sorry gushing over.
I loved this book. OK, I lied, I gush. My greatest disappointment is that I wanted more. (A little sore that my tuition paid for such a short book despite the understanding that an artist must leave you wanting more).
I was in East Germany in 1992 and Russia in 2004 but the pictures and narration still shocked me. Mendoza's eye always is toward the tiny quirk that makes the entire image just off enough to avoid plain vanilla. So even though the obvious 'people are poor but resourceful' conclusion is here it is nowhere near the point. Mendoza plays American tourist, returned exile, and local done good lightly and never spends more time on any before switching gears to his subtle humor in image and text.

Oh just read it. It's good and I liked it. But clearly I can't do justice with my hackneyed fawning. ( )