The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.20 (852 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0735217718 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-08-02 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Cantú tries not to think where the stories go from there.Plagued by nightmares, he abandons the Patrol for civilian life. Searing and unforgettable, The Line Becomes a River makes urgent and personal the violence our border wreaks on both sides of the line.. Haunted by the landscape of his youth, Cantú joins the Border Patrol. In a time of often ill-informed or downright deceitful political rhetoric, this book is an invaluable corrective."--Phil KlayFor Francisco Cantú, the border is in the blood: his mother, a park ranger and daughter of a Mexican immigrant, raised him in the scrublands of the Southwest. They haul in the dead and deliver to detention those they find alive. "A beautiful, fiercely honest, and nevertheless deeply empathetic look at those who police the border and the migrants who risk - and lose - their lives crossing it. But when an immigrant friend travels to Mexico to visit his dying mother and does not return, Cantú discovers that the border has migrated with him, and now he must know the whole story. He and his partners are posted to remote regions crisscrossed by drug routes and smuggling corridors, where they learn to track other humans under blistering sun and through frigid nights
His words are emotionally true and his literary sensibility uplifting.” –Barry Lopez, author of Arctic Dreams and Of Wolves and Men "This book tells the hard poetry of the desert heart. And you will be moved by its unexpected music." –Luís Alberto Urrea, author of The Devil’s Highway. If you think you know about immigration and the border, you will see there is much to learn. "Cantú’s story, and intelligent and humane perspective, should mortify anyone who ever thought building a wall might improve our lot. He advocates for clarity and compassion in place of xenophobia and uninformed rhetoric
Francisco Cantú served as an agent for the United States Border Patrol from 2008 to 2012, working in the deserts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. . His writing and translations have been featured in Best American Essays, Harper's, n+1, Orion, and Guernica, as well as on This American Life. He lives in Tucson. A former Fulbright fellow, he is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and a 2017 Whiting Award