After being dismissed as a Professor at City University in a mass firing due to NYC fiscal problems, Holder decided to pursue a life exploring sex in Mexico.

During the course of two long trips to Mexico from 1975 to 1977, she wrote a series of letter to Edith Jones, a friend in New York City.

A German hardbound edition was published under the title Ich Atme Mit Dem Herzen in 1981 by Büchergilde Gutenberg.

In Holder's progressively self-destructive odyssey there emerges a classic confrontation between North American feminism and Mexican machismo.

Jackie Burroughs won a Genie award for her portrayal of Maryse Holder in the film.