This a great book, one of the best I’ve read this year. It hits you in the head, makes you think hard about the events conveyed between its pages, but it packs an even harder emotional wallop. I felt such sadness and fierce heartache for the 26 men who stumbled into the Devil’s Highway and the brutal loss of the 14 who didn’t make it and the tortuous way they stumbled, for hour on endless hour, into the ultimately merciful embrace of death.Urrea has a poet’s gift for language, alternating long,

We all know that in our current political climate, there are very strong feelings by people on every side when it comes to the issue of immigration and refugees. There has long been talk about a wall being built between the United States and Mexico, to prevent people from crossing the border and, y'know, "taking our jobs" or whatever. I'm not interested in having a political debate with anyone about this topic, but a wall is fucking stupid.In any case.In 2001, 26 men attempted to cross the borde...

Urrea writes an engrossing, disturbing, and tragic account of the Yuma 14. In May of 2001, a group of 26 people got lost in the Arizona desert while attempting to crossthe border, and only 12 survived. I decided to read the book after hearing Urrea speak here in Bloomington. In person, he was an amazing story teller, and explained the process of writing the devil's highway. I learned a lot about the politics and geography of the border, and the different stories of the individuals involved - the...

”Five men stumbled out of the mountain pass so sunstruck they didn’t know their own names, couldn’t remember where they’d come from, had forgotten how long they’d been lost. One of them wandered back up a peak. One of them was barefoot. They were burned nearly black, their lips huge and cracking, what paltry drool still available to them spuming from their mouths in a salty foam as they walked. Their eyes were cloudy with dust, almost too dry to blink up a tear. Their hair was hard and stiffened...

The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea was a disturbing non-fiction account of an unforgiving corridor along the Mexico-United States border known as "The Devil's Highway." The author did extensive research and was granted access to documents and governmental reports from both Mexico and the United States including border patrol reports, sheriff's departmental reports, Mexican consular reports, Justice Department reports, testimonies and trial documents, correspondence and hours of taped inte...

4.5I listened to this following American Dirt, to have a comparison in the quest to "put a face on the faceless", which both authors had as a goal. This book gave me a much more complete view of the people who make these dangerous border crossings, and why. Urrea focuses on one particular story involving a small group of men who attempt to make the crossing with the help of a "coyote", only to become lost and succumb to the heat. Many died in the attempt, making headlines in the news. We learn w...

This was an excellent book on border crossings between Mexico and the U.S. It is horrifying as well. I can still see the mummified bodies of those who tried to cross the borders with just one ola in their hands. They thought that all they had to do was walk across, and they were there in a town or city; instead a desert met them, and they died within a very short period of time.

Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction Shortlist 2005. Urrea masterfully brings to life the lives of 26 men and boys who attempted to enter the United States by walking across the treacherous southern Arizona desert, called the Devil’s Highway, in May of 2001. He follows these men from their recruitment by Mexican gangsters, to the border area where three guides took over, and finally their horrific trek under the 115 degree sun in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. Fourteen of them died. At las...

of all the books i've read on the subject, this is the best. the story itself is harrowing, of course, and urrea is one hell of a writer. rather than tell a linear story of the 26 mexicans who walked across the devil's highway (only 12 lived to tell the tale), he offers a kaleidoscopic view of the whole machine: border patrol, mexican gangsters, coyotes, arizona, texas, vera cruz, the rio grande, sonora, and the eyeball-drying life-taking sweat-sucking scorching terrible terrible terrible dantea...

Twenty years since this horrific event and little has changed on the US/Mexico border. I hope people continue to discover this book, as I finally did in the wake of last year's controversy about a fictionalized account of a Mexican woman coming to the United States, and in turn discover the truth of the immigrant experience along our southern border. Beautifully, tragically, truthfully told, The Devil's Highway is a classic of investigative, narrative non-fiction. Read this, everyone.

A gut-wrenching, fierce book centering around 26 men who tried to cross the US-Mexican border through the desert. Urrea writes about their arduous journey in shattering detail as well as providing an even-handed portrayal of several Border Patrol agents and a discussion of the bigger picture of illegal immigration. (On my list of authentic books to read as an alternative to, or alongside American Dirt)

5 🚷 🚷 🚷 🚷 🚷I read this after it was recommended in a review for nonfiction reading about immigrants and illegal entry into the US via our southern border with Mexico. It was suggested as an alternative to the popular and controversial American Dirt. My copy of that one has yet to make it into my hands so I can’t compare the two, even so, fiction is its own category and if it draws one to books like this I’m tempted to say it’s a win-win. I live in rural California where almost daily you drive in...

I was working with the Border Patrol at the time of this story. It is a very effective presentation of how people are smuggled across the Arizona border from Mexico. It is also effective at showing how to die in the desert. You will feel empathy for the migrants. You will see the day to day life of the Border Patrol. They are not who they are often presented as. With this you will identify how dysfunctional policy is with regard to the Southwest Border... I'm a fan of sealed borders and liberal

I read this book to learn more about the Mexican American border situation. Who are the "crossers" and whom must they deal with? I learned a lot. It presents all parts in a balanced and fair manner. I recommend the book very highly. The author reads his own book. This he has done very well too.

This is as good as it gets if you want a short but comprehensive examination of the issues surrounding our porous border with Mexico. All viewpoints are represented, and with surprisingly little bias on the part of the author. As a Mexican American, Urrea admits to an initial bias against the Border Patrol, or "Pinche Migra." His investigation changed his mind, and he presents them in a favorable light. Urrea uses one well-publicized 2001 tragedy to illustrate the complexities and absurdities of...

“Five men stumbled out of the mountain pass so sunstruck they didn’t know their own names, couldn’t remember where they’d come from, had forgotten how long they’d been lost… They were burned nearly black, their lips huge and cracking, what paltry drool still available to them spuming from their mouths in a salty foam as they walked. Their eyes were cloudy with dust, almost too dry to blink up a tear. Their hair was hard and stiffened by old sweat, standing in crowns from their scalps, old sweat

While listening to this audio book, I felt just as lost as those wandering the Devil's Highway. The narrative is scattered & the author rambles. I think I would've enjoyed this one a lot more had it been told in a linear format.

Part 1 is over written and over told. I think the author was trying to provide context but it was like someone describing a map. Boring.Part 2 is just as descriptive but it becomes entrancing. I could visualize everything those men went through in the desert. After that the over explaining begins again.Although it's not perfect I think everyone should read this book before they form an opinion on immigration. These "illegal immigrants" didn't come here to have "anchor babies" or get on "welfare....

This is a really sad story, and definitely looks at the many facets of border crossings and border politics in a fairly balanced way. But I had a very hard time with the way Urrea chose to tell it. If this were a documentary, it would be one of the overly-dramatic ones filled with a little too much speculation and a few too many cheesy reenactments that you find on the Discovery and History channels. He may have gotten most of his facts right, but because of the way those facts are presented, I

I needed a book that was set in Mexico for...yes...those of you that know me know that some books that are not my usual fare are for more than likely for....another challenge. I just don't seem to be able to resist them:) I was prepared to read it...I liked the title (not really a "good" reason to read a book I know) but as I got into it I found myself really drawn in. My grandparents and my mother were immigrants from Ireland, so I grew up hearing the reasons that drove immigrants to flee their...