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Refried Elvis: The Rise of the Mexican Counterculture: By Eric Zolov. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999. Pp. xiii 349. Notes. Illustrations. Index. Cloth $45.00. Paper $18.95.)

Exhaustively researched, thoughtfully theorized, and engagingly written, Refried Elvis is a timely and important addition to a growing body of scholarly work on Mexican cultural history. And it's doubly welcome. First, too much of the recent debate over cultural history has focused on the problematic recovery of campesino consciousness and the alleged imprecisions of postmodern theory. Zolov's book— with its urban middleclass focus, careful evaluation of sources, and theoretical rigor —reminds us of the breadth, richness, and explanatory power of good cultural history. Second, there just aren't that many interesting, easily accessible (to intelligent undergraduates) historical monographs on recent Mexican history. For that reason alone, Refried Elvis should become a mainstay in Mexican history courses.