ePub Dead in Their Tracks: Crossing America’s Desert Borderlands in the New Era by John Annerino in History

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A good book on the subject of desparate people....By Wayne Stan...crossing the south west desert. I have lived here for 30 years and have been a medic for a SAR group. The book pretty much tells it how it is. It is a good book for my inlaws that live in the north east and have no idea of what goes on down here. I would say that the ill-informed in Washington should be made to read it; but the points it contains would be lost on them. A very worthwhile read.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Attention GrabbingBy BeckyI purchased this as a gift. My friend said; the book was interesting. I did not read it but I know she would tell me if it was not a good book. She is very interested in the history of our border; and the problems associated with those crossing over from Mexico.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A Striking Story about Border Crossers; the Border Patrol and the Life-Threatening Perils of Crossing the Sonoran DesertBy Jay LemmingThe phenomenon of border crossing; or migration or 'invasion" or whatever term you may use to describe the trek of Mexicans and Central Americans into the United States via the Southwest border can be discussed at great length to defend any political position you choose--supporter of migrants or defender of American sovereignty against illegal aliens. What surprises me about some of the negative reviews of Dead in Their Tracks is the criticism of Mr. Annerino's lack of even-handed journalism. I think that kind of misses the point.Dead in Their Tracks is not intended to be a kind of didactic treatise on the story of the Southwest border. The story of people crossing--and in many cases; dying in--the desert is of critical importance; and that is the story that Annerino tells. It is a very human story. A gifted photographer; he supplements his writing with the camera eye to reveal the world of the Southwest border through the very perspective of those who live and cross there.I am an East Coaster and am a product of my developed mid-Atlantic coast culture. I have not spent much time in Arizona but when I did finally go several years ago; I felt as though I knew a part of the physical and mental landscape already due to Dead in Their Tracks. The book introduced me to sign cutting and tinajas; expressions I never knew existed beforehand. In Arizona; I placed water jugs out in the desert with Humane Borders. I interviewed Glenn Spencer from the American Border Patrol. During these experiences; I felt as though I was simply expanding on the story Annerino had already written.Especially for those of us from other parts of the country; such as myself; to see images of bleached bones in the Sonoran Desert or of rotting; half-eaten corpses; to consider photos of the endlessly vast plains of saguaro cactus across which hopeful border crossers must traverse; for those of us; in other words; who do not live in this part of the United States and have nothing but the faintest indication of its culture; struggles and politics; John Annerino nails it. I have written a novel about the Southwest border and while many books had a big influence on my writing it; the first of the first is unquestionably Dead in Their Tracks.It provides a potent and powerful glimpse into a world of human struggle; which I would recommend to anyone seeking an entrance into the world of the Southwest; the Border Patrol and the ongoing struggles of those from Latin America who hope to cross into and do well in El Norte.