- Paperback: 208 pages
- Publisher: Anchor; Trade PB edition (Jan 2 1993)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0385425309
- ISBN-13: 978-0385425308
- Product Dimensions: 13 x 1.4 x 20.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 159 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #816,007 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Urrea, a Mexican-born American, worked from 1978 to 1982 for a Protestant aid group in Tijuana, and he wrote these fragmentary, evocative tales of heartbreak and hope for the San Diego Reader after he returned to the region in 1990. "Poverty is personal: it smells and it shocks and it invades your space," Urrea declares, and he admits to being thrilled by both the goodness and the squalor he knew intimately. He visits the dumps where people live, their possessions a bed and a car-battery-powered television. He travels with a Tijuana cop, working "a city of famed vice," and learns how the cop extracts sexual favors from American women. In one arresting chapter he records his father's death in a car accident, the tragedy compounded by police and funeral costs and a battle with the father's insurance company. Urrea ends with a manic, magic "Christmas story," about a gift giveaway organized by a San Diego rock radio station and attended by a band called the Trash Can Sinatras. There Urrea reunites with Negra--who as a little girl made a shrine out of the doll he gave her, and who says, "I never forgot you, Luis." Photos not seen by PW .
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Urrea, a San Diego native, recounts his experiences in Tijuana and other areas on the U.S.-Mexico border from 1979 to 1991. He meets residents of the Tijuana city dump, visits rural orphanages with American missionaries, and goes on calls with a Tijuana police officer. Urrea's candid style does not sensationalize these situations; each of his Mexican acquaintances is an individual whose story is told with respect and understanding. As a personal and insightful view of Mexican border residents and their lives, Across the Wire is a more detailed and cohesive treatment of the topic than Debbie Nathan's Women and Other Aliens ( LJ 5/1/91). Highly recommended. --Gwen Gregory, U.S. Courts Lib., Phoenix
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Former Border Patrol Agent writes...,
By Carl C. Anderson "www.DrinkCoffee.US" (Chicago-Metro, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Across the Wire: Life and Hard Times on the Mexican Border (Paperback)
I am a former United States Border Patrol Agent and I read this book while working the fixed positions we often manned along the Arizona-Mexico border. I was so moved by this story, I cried. I cried as I read this book, right there in my Border Patrol vehicle on the very line separating two very different worlds! This book is an easy read and can be taken a little at a time. Its impact is incredible and your heart will be broken. It is a must read! I am not compromising my stance on immigration laws here, I am just expressing my heart-felt pain for some of what the beautiful people of Mexico must face in their lives. God bless!
4.0 out of 5 stars
No sugar coated Mexican cliches here, just the sad truth.,
By "slitherandspit" (Saskatoon, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Across the Wire: Life and Hard Times on the Mexican Border (Paperback)
Brilliant read, by a heroically courageous soul. If you are aspiring to learn more about Mexican reality, read this book. Highly recommended.
5.0 out of 5 stars
comments can be deceptive...,
By Mathew D. (Santa Barbara, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Across the Wire: Life and Hard Times on the Mexican Border (Paperback)
I'm basically writing this review because I feel that the comments posted here do not reflect how beautiful this book actually is. It was assigned reading during a Chicano Studies course I took last quarter, and quite literally changed the way I look at the Mexican-US border. Too often we on this side of the border are shown a VERY diluted picture of life on the border, and NEVER a complete picture. I felt that this book helped to fill in the gaps in my own bias. There is nothing cruel, nothing romantic, nothing emotional about this book. It presents a sring of events told objectivly by the author, for our own emotional responses to perceive however we choose. A fairly short book made of extraordinarily powerful yet short anecdotes, you'll find it VERY hard to not finish this in one sitting. HIGHLY recommended; one of my favourite books of all time, that has not been given the mainstream acclaim it deserves.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > History > Americas > Central America
- Books > History > Americas > Mexico
- Books > History > Americas > United States
- Books > History > United States
- Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Emigration & Immigration
- Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Sociology > History
- Books > Science > Technology
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
