Dead in Their Tracks: Crossing America's Desert Borderlands
by John Annerino
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Book Reviews of Dead in Their Tracks: Crossing America's Desert Borderlands
Book Review: Good immersion book
Summary: 4 Stars
The photos in this book alone will move you. It was great to read about the author's journeys and firsthand experiences in the border desert of AZ. What I like most about the work is that we get a firsthand view of what it's like to cross those barren deserts just to get a job. It's amazing to hear those stories.
At one point in the book we read about his travels from the Mexican border to the I-8 in the US. Elsewhere we read about his week-long journey through those same deserts at the peak of summer, stopping at wells and water-holes along the way just to stay alive.
While John's text is really disjointed, unorganized, and at times flat out confusing, he's not writing to impress-- but to take the reader to the places he's been and help them to feel the feelings he has. This work is a great exposition of something that happens in our southwestern deserts almost every day.
Book Review: Another terrific work from Annerino
Summary: 5 Stars
A story like this demands a great deal from an author. Although Annerino has obviously spent many hours researching the borderlands of the Southwest, the key to this monumental work is the extent to which he is willing to live the story he writes. He has taken immense risks, walking side by side through the desert with Mexican immigrants, and coming face to face with the coyotes and narcotraficantes and Border Patrol agents and ranchers of this volatile area. With Annerino's books, you always learn tons of local history, but never at the expense of that vivid sensation of dust and sweat and heat and imminent danger that keep it an interesting read. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to learn more about the little-known wilderness along the Mexican border and the human cost it extracts due to current immigration policies.Book Review: Compelling
Summary: 5 Stars
This book, even though it was very short and hopped around a bit, was very compelling and absorbing. It really makes you understand and feel for those people looking for work across the Mexican-American border. Though the book stressed certain things such as the desert heat and the poverty of the immigrants in order to persuade the reader, it was so absorbing that it was easily forgivable, especially considering the subject matter... people braving the elements and coming close to (and sometimes entering) death in order to give their families and themselves a better life through a hard earned paycheck. We rarely hear about the deaths of people trying to cross the desert, partly because they are trying not to be noticed.I think the author accomplished what he set out to achieve. This book was not written for literary credentials, but to make an impact on the people who read it and to make them think, as well as raise awareness of the subject. One line I'm sure summed up his reasoning for writing this book.. it read something like "A Mexican life is more important than a celebrity's last stint in rehab."
Book Review: Una investigacion documental seria - impactante!
Summary: 5 Stars
HISTORIAS DE VIDA. JOHN ANNERINO. ENCUENTRA LA REALIDAD NEGADA. La Manda Que Se Hizo Reportaje. "...Con una investigacion documental seria, impactantes fotografias y comentarios propios, este texto es algo mas que una denuncia, John lo define como: "Un testimonio de las personas que han muerto al cruzar la frontera, es una memoria porque tambien vienen en el libro fechas, lugares y datos de como murieron." La fotografia dejo de ser su forma de vida, se convirto en una necesidad de transmitar el dolor, el sufrimiento de los mexicanos y su valentia de cruzar hacia el otro lado: "Ellos son unos heroes para mi, pues buscan sacar adelante a sus familias y hacen trabajo pesado que los americanos rechazan hacer." Su voz cambio de tono, de nuevo su mirada de hizo clara, sus manos temblaron un tanto emocionadas, sus palabras reclamaron una repuesta: "Por que la vida es diferente para los personas? Todos somos iguales, la vida de una estrella de cine no es mas importante que un mexicano pobre. La prensa de Estados Unidos quiere estrellas de peliculas, de musica, de politicos, matanzas en las escuelas, problemas en todos partes del mundo, pero cuando se trata de los mexicanos que mueren en terrenos estadounidenses, guarda silencio..." -El IndependienteBook Review: "It's incredible - a great book."
Summary: 5 Stars
"I was just given a copy of [John Annerino's] latest book, DEAD IN THEIR TRACKS, and am impressed with the way [he] captured the reality of the southwest desert conditions endured by people trying to cross into the US. "It's incredible - a great book." -American Friends Service Committee, U.S.-Mexico Border Program