Cover of God's Middle Finger: Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre

God's Middle Finger: Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre

by Richard Grant · 2008

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Twenty miles south of the Arizona-Mexico border, the rugged, beautiful Sierra Madre mountains begin their dramatic ascent. Almost 900 miles long, the range climbs to nearly 11,000 feet and boasts several canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon. The rules of law and society have never taken hold in the Sierra Madre, which is home to bandits, drug smugglers, Mormons, cave-dwelling Tarahumara Indians, opium farmers, cowboys, and other assorted outcasts. Outsiders are not welcome; drugs are the primary source of income; murder is all but a regional pastime. The Mexican army occasionally goes in to burn marijuana and opium crops — the modern treasure of the Sierra Madre — but otherwise the government stays away. In its stead are the drug lords, who have made it one of the biggest drug-producing areas in the world.

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Fifteen years ago, journalist Richard Grant developed what he calls "an unfortunate fascination" with this lawless place. Locals warned that he would meet his death there, but he didn't believe them — until his last trip. During his travels Grant visited a folk healer for his insomnia and was prescribed rattlesnake pills, attended bizarre religious rituals, consorted with cocaine-snorting policemen, taught English to Guarijio Indians, and dug for buried treasure. On his last visit, his reckless adventure spiraled into his own personal heart of darkness when cocaine-fueled Mexican hillbillies hunted him through the woods all night, bent on killing him for sport.

With gorgeous detail, fascinating insight, and an undercurrent of dark humor, God's Middle Fingerbrings to vivid life a truly unique and uncharted world.

Subject
traveltravelMore like thisLess of thishistoryhistoryMore like thisLess of thisanthropologyanthropologyMore like thisLess of thisbiographybiographyMore like thisLess of thisgeographygeographyMore like thisLess of this
Genre
adventureadventureMore like thisLess of thiscrimecrimeMore like thisLess of this
Themes
traveltravelMore like thisLess of thisaddictionaddictionMore like thisLess of thisnaturenatureMore like thisLess of this
Setting
MexicoMexicoMore like thisLess of thisLatin AmericaLatin AmericaMore like thisLess of thisAmerican WestAmerican WestMore like thisLess of this
Audience
adult
Length
medium · 288 pages

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Liked God's Middle Finger: Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked God's Middle Finger: Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

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“People who read God's Middle Finger: Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre tend to reach for these next.”

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  2. First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, the Capital of the 21st Century David Lida · 2008
  3. Down by the River: Drugs, Money, Murder, and Family Charles Bowden · 2002
  4. Across the Wire: Life and Hard Times on the Mexican Border Luis Alberto Urrea · 1993

“If you want more of the same (travel), start with these.”

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  2. The People's Guide to Mexico Carl Franz, Lorena Havens · 1972
  3. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, Vol 2 John Lloyd Stephens · 1843
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“If it was the Mexico that hooked you, try one of these.”

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“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Drug War Zone: Frontline Dispatches from the Streets of El Paso and Juarez Howard Campbell · 2009
  2. High Society: Mind-Altering Drugs in History and Culture Mike Jay · 2010
  3. Opium Wars W. Travis Hanes III, Frank Sanello · 2003
  4. More, Now, Again: A Memoir of Addiction Elizabeth Wurtzel · 2000

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