Raised in the traditional kitchen from which his mother runs her Buen AppeTito catering service, Weston Tito Hingler's childhood is shaped by the foods he eats, especially those he must try before he is allowed to enter the Tsil Caf where his father invites--and at times challenges--diners to experience foods of the New World cooked New Mexican style.

Filled with recipes and definitions of New World ingredients, Averill's novel follows Wes as he navigates his way through the dueling cuisines of his passionate parents and the signature recipes of his life.

When Thomas Fox Averill first heard Jimmy Driftwood's ballad "Tennessee Stud," he found the song hauntingly compelling. As he began to imagine the story behind the lyrics, he set out to research the song's history--a tale from "along about eighteen and twenty-five" of the legendary exploits of the greatest horse that ever lived, the "Tennessee Stud," and his owner.

Traveling the same route the song chronicles, from Tennessee into Arkansas, through Texas and into Mexico, Averill visited racetracks, Spanish missions, historical museums, a living history farm, and national parks, inventing...