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arielamandah's review against another edition
4.0
Is it strange to say that this book felt like a sob to me? The kind that starts in your stomach, makes your throat tight, and then leaps forth, almost on its own? The dread, sadness, disgust, and, yes, can’t-look-away fascination I felt reading this, mostly resemble a form of anguish for me. There are no heroes or villains in this story, just a long chain of people taking advantage of one another, trying to improve their situation. It SHOULD break your heart. Urrea is an outstanding writer and does an excellent job telling an utterly brutal story with compassion, clear-eyed fairness, and even a little humor (now and then, and especially in the acknowledgements).
lediamond4's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
3.0
A horrifying, yet important story.
I struggled a LOT with the inconsistent writing style. At times it was very stilted and textbooky. Other times, it was cutting and harshly critical of the grave mistreatment and overall misunderstanding of immigrants. There’s a lot of heat in this book and it’s very much deserved. It tells the story of a tragedy that could have been prevented. I didn’t mind either style, but it was difficult to move back and forth between the two.
I struggled a LOT with the inconsistent writing style. At times it was very stilted and textbooky. Other times, it was cutting and harshly critical of the grave mistreatment and overall misunderstanding of immigrants. There’s a lot of heat in this book and it’s very much deserved. It tells the story of a tragedy that could have been prevented. I didn’t mind either style, but it was difficult to move back and forth between the two.
maryehavens's review against another edition
4.0
What I liked about this book: descriptive, well researched, gave multiple points of view.
What I disliked about this book: that this situation still exists and ever existed in the first place.
I learned a lot that I didn't already know and it just breaks my heart. You feel so impotent when you read books like this. What can I possibly do to help fix this situation? The only thing I can think to do is treat everyone as equals, try to patronize businesses that don't benefit from this kind of labor, and vote conscientiously.
We flew to LA this past weekend and I saw that we flew over Tucson on the Flight Tracker. I couldn't help but think of all the souls lost on the Devil's Highway...and the souls that are lost every day.
It was also incredibly disturbing to hear of over 300 women that were brutally murdered/missing on the border.
And now I can't write anymore because it's way too sad and frustrating. But I'm grateful to have read this book that was recommended to me by some of my students.
What I disliked about this book: that this situation still exists and ever existed in the first place.
I learned a lot that I didn't already know and it just breaks my heart. You feel so impotent when you read books like this. What can I possibly do to help fix this situation? The only thing I can think to do is treat everyone as equals, try to patronize businesses that don't benefit from this kind of labor, and vote conscientiously.
We flew to LA this past weekend and I saw that we flew over Tucson on the Flight Tracker. I couldn't help but think of all the souls lost on the Devil's Highway...and the souls that are lost every day.
It was also incredibly disturbing to hear of over 300 women that were brutally murdered/missing on the border.
And now I can't write anymore because it's way too sad and frustrating. But I'm grateful to have read this book that was recommended to me by some of my students.
caitcausey's review against another edition
5.0
Should be required reading for every American. Gritty and harrowing from start to finish, where the desert itself is a villain alongside numerous other tragic forces at play in the story. I don't often refer to books as un-put-downable, but this one most definitely is. A crooked, deadly enchantment filters through each page...stunning and sad.
ceejeffe's review against another edition
5.0
I did the unthinkable with this book and DOG EARED pages that I knew I would want to revisit. It is THAT good of a story and teaching book!
Luis Alberto does a phenomenal job drawing the WHOLE picture of immigration on the southern border. That includes the experiences of people who have made the trip and the stereotypes based on rhetoric to the policies and political, economic, and humanitarian pressures that have made this situation what it is.
Originally published in 2004, and my copy has an afterword from 2014. I hope Urrea shares an update in the next few years!
Luis Alberto does a phenomenal job drawing the WHOLE picture of immigration on the southern border. That includes the experiences of people who have made the trip and the stereotypes based on rhetoric to the policies and political, economic, and humanitarian pressures that have made this situation what it is.
Originally published in 2004, and my copy has an afterword from 2014. I hope Urrea shares an update in the next few years!
jen286's review against another edition
1.0
this was one of the most disappointing books I have read in a long time. This one was picked out for book club and we were all eager to start reading. Most people didn’t finish the book, and those of us who did….well the conversation about the book was WAY more interesting than the book itself. The book is telling the story of some Mexican illegal immigrants who cross the border into the US and most of them die in the desert. It is also about the border patrol and how they go about their job and kind of a history. It sounded very interesting to me as well…I am interested in this. But the book was written like a news article that was way too long. Filled with a ton of boring details, and not enough detail on the actual even it was a struggle to get through. It did lead to a great discussion about the Mexican/US border.
lizaroo71's review against another edition
4.0
I just realized I never wrote this review. This book catalogs a group of men that attempt to cross the desert of Arizona in the deadly heat of the summer. It's a story that takes you through the foolish mistakes made by the man placed in charge of getting them to safety. It is truly horrible what happens to the men in hopes of getting to America and what they believe will give them a better life.
The title refers to this region as it is horribly hot with little to no shade and the elements are can be deadly. The events occurred in May 2001, but are still very relevant today.
The title refers to this region as it is horribly hot with little to no shade and the elements are can be deadly. The events occurred in May 2001, but are still very relevant today.
balletbookworm's review
5.0
A poetic recounting of the tragedy that occurred in 2001 when 26 men attempted to cross into the United States via the Devil's Highway near Yuma, Arizona - only 12 survived. This a book that falls very much in the vein of In Cold Blood in the ways that Urrea sets a scene and keeps the narrative thread of the book moving (particularly in the last sections) but unlike Capote deals very much in facts and only reconstructs what he was unable to verify such as "Mike F." (the Border Patrol officer who found the walkers who was unable to be interviewed at the time) and some of the thoughts and actions of the walkers who died in the Devil's Highway. This is a very haunting tale.
I heard Urrea speak at the Iowa City Book Festival 2014 when he was awarded the Paul Engle Prize - I bought this book immediately and had him sign it. But I didn't get around to reading it until now (my bad, I know). Having Urrea narrate this audiobook is a treat. He is an excellent storyteller.
I heard Urrea speak at the Iowa City Book Festival 2014 when he was awarded the Paul Engle Prize - I bought this book immediately and had him sign it. But I didn't get around to reading it until now (my bad, I know). Having Urrea narrate this audiobook is a treat. He is an excellent storyteller.
jsisco's review against another edition
5.0
You want to know more about the border but you feel overwhelmed? Start here.
jdintr's review against another edition
4.0
Last summer, I took my sons and nephews on a road trip along the US-Mexico border. We ate lunch in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, drove to Sierra Vista, Arizona along the border, often coming as close as 50 yards to the metal fence that separates the two nations. After a visit to Tucson and the Mission San Xavier del Bac, we left the Tohono O'odham Reservation and drove to Ajo, camping for a night in Organ Pipe Cactus National Park.
In other words, we traveled the Devil's Highway.
But it wasn't until I had read Urrea's book that my head understood the landscape and the people that my eyes had scene.
One of the most fascinating aspects to Urrea's narrative is just how populated the border region seems to be. He fills in gaps of history, profiles Native Americans, Border Patrol agents, and right-wing patriots, and places the reader among a broad cast that operates in one of the most desolate areas of North America.
I most enjoyed the journalism Urrea demonstrated here. He had looked up the families of the Yuma 14 and filled in fascinating details about many of the men--both those who died and those who survived. He details the landscape. The narrative almost shimmers with dry heat.
The book reminded me a little of Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea in its ability to stretch a long, harrowing trip into an almost encyclopedic look at the context. Urrea goes into detail about the steps of "hyperthermia," i.e. overheating, that lead to death. Only once--when he speculated about the religious visions of the victims--did I feel that he went too far in filling in the details.
A final chapter, written ten years after the events covered in TDH (May of 2001) look at how the border has changed since that terrible, deadly summer.
Having been to Organ Pipe Cactus recently, I can attest that there is an 18-foot-high metal fence separating the park from Mexico. There seem to be Border Patrol vehicles every mile or so. And the regular inspection stations give the border area the feel of a police state.
In other words, we traveled the Devil's Highway.
But it wasn't until I had read Urrea's book that my head understood the landscape and the people that my eyes had scene.
One of the most fascinating aspects to Urrea's narrative is just how populated the border region seems to be. He fills in gaps of history, profiles Native Americans, Border Patrol agents, and right-wing patriots, and places the reader among a broad cast that operates in one of the most desolate areas of North America.
I most enjoyed the journalism Urrea demonstrated here. He had looked up the families of the Yuma 14 and filled in fascinating details about many of the men--both those who died and those who survived. He details the landscape. The narrative almost shimmers with dry heat.
The book reminded me a little of Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea in its ability to stretch a long, harrowing trip into an almost encyclopedic look at the context. Urrea goes into detail about the steps of "hyperthermia," i.e. overheating, that lead to death. Only once--when he speculated about the religious visions of the victims--did I feel that he went too far in filling in the details.
A final chapter, written ten years after the events covered in TDH (May of 2001) look at how the border has changed since that terrible, deadly summer.
Having been to Organ Pipe Cactus recently, I can attest that there is an 18-foot-high metal fence separating the park from Mexico. There seem to be Border Patrol vehicles every mile or so. And the regular inspection stations give the border area the feel of a police state.