Within the pages of Untied Knots ...

- a 9-hour train trip through central Mexico turns into a 37-hour ordeal

- visitors to lively port of Veracruz enjoy sounds and sights of Old Mexico

- three hotel clerks must eject unwanted visitor, deal with feuding couple, and placate angry racist

- Midwestern couple takes circuitous three-country trip to Mexico City, with no home to return to afterward

- developers of early computer system obtain a surprising client

- low-roller residents of Las Vegas hotel feel as if they're living in a circus

These are just a few of the dilemmas faced by travelers and stay-at-homes in Untied Knots, a collection of 33 tales from both the distant and more recent past. Split into three basic categories, each promises an offbeat twist or two.

Best described as "autobiographical fiction," nearly half of the tales are travel-based, largely factual, based upon second-class treks through everyday life that invariably steer around the posh and the touristy. Several stem from long-term journeys and random residence within Mexico, undertaken as far back as the 1970s.

Exploits of home-based characters are more fictional, though inspired at least in part by actual people, places, and events. Archived tales were written (or begun) decades ago, but never published.

James M. Flammang has been a journalist, writer, and editor for his entire adult life, with more than 30 books published. Most have been about cars (new, used, and historic), along with half a dozen children's titles. He and his wife, Marianne, have been avid travelers in the past, especially in Mexico, veering away from the familiar tourist paths.