The Beast
Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail
Published on 3. June 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-1-78168-297-5 (ISBN)
Description
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Economist & The Financial Times
One day a few years ago, 300 migrants were kidnapped between the remote desert towns of Altar, Mexico, and Sasabe, Arizona. A local priest got 120 released, many with broken ankles and other marks of abuse, but the rest vanished. Oscar Martinez, a young writer from El Salvador, was in Altar soon after the abduction, and his account of the migrant disappearances is only one of the harrowing stories he garnered from two years spent traveling up and down the migrant trail from Central America and across the US border. More than a quarter of a million Central Americans make this increasingly dangerous journey each year, and each year as many as 20,000 of them are kidnapped.
Martinez writes in powerful, unforgettable prose about clinging to the tops of freight trains; finding respite, work and hardship in shelters and brothels; and riding shotgun with the border patrol. Illustrated with stunning full-color photographs, The Beast is the first book to shed light on the harsh new reality of the migrant trail in the age of the narcotraficantes.
One day a few years ago, 300 migrants were kidnapped between the remote desert towns of Altar, Mexico, and Sasabe, Arizona. A local priest got 120 released, many with broken ankles and other marks of abuse, but the rest vanished. Oscar Martinez, a young writer from El Salvador, was in Altar soon after the abduction, and his account of the migrant disappearances is only one of the harrowing stories he garnered from two years spent traveling up and down the migrant trail from Central America and across the US border. More than a quarter of a million Central Americans make this increasingly dangerous journey each year, and each year as many as 20,000 of them are kidnapped.
Martinez writes in powerful, unforgettable prose about clinging to the tops of freight trains; finding respite, work and hardship in shelters and brothels; and riding shotgun with the border patrol. Illustrated with stunning full-color photographs, The Beast is the first book to shed light on the harsh new reality of the migrant trail in the age of the narcotraficantes.
Reviews / Votes
A heartbreaking book about the world's most invisible people. A revelatory work of love and hair-raising courage. -- Alma Guillermoprieto, Latin America correspondent for the <em>New York Review of Books</em>, author of <em>Dancing with Cuba</em> To understand the dramatic realities faced by the migrants who flee northwards to find work in the United States, Oscar Martinez literally jumped trains and dodged killers. He deserves praise not only for his efforts, and for what he writes about, but because he writes so very well. -- Jon Lee Anderson, staff reporter for the <em>New Yorker</em> Oscar Martinez is a journalist of uncommon bravery and a writer of prodigious talent. The Beast is a powerful, necessary book, one of the finest pieces of journalism to emerge from Latin America in years. -- Daniel Alarcon, author of <em>At Night We Walk in Circles</em> Forget the rhetoric, the politics, and the propaganda. The Beast is the real story of the drug war. * Lithub *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 127 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
348 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78168-297-5 (9781781682975)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2013
Verso Books
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Previous edition
Book
10/2013
Verso Books
€38.56
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Persons
Oscar Martinez writes for ElFaro.net, the first online newspaper in Latin America. His first book, The Beast, was named one of the best books of the year by the Economist and the Financial Times. In 2008, Martinez won the Fernando Benitez National Journalism Prize in Mexico, and in 2009, he was awarded the Human Rights Prize at the Jose Simeon Canas Central American University in El Salvador.