A short book focusing on Tijuana, Mexico before the advent of the narcotraffickers. Mostly hard-luck tales of the people from various countries moving toward the US border who were ravaged and brutalized by the Mexicans themselves. Urrea, a dual-citizen, worked as a teacher in the US (Harvard) while also ministering with a local California based protestant church to provide outreach and aid to the various hordes scavenging for a living. A native of Tijuana he of course mocks the Christian youth coming over to help the poor on the Mexicans' side. Tijuana is a unique place. Now, many people cross the border to go to schools in California which of course are better than the Mexican poorly resourced education system. The children of Tijuana are some of the most educated in Mexico thanks to this arrangement. Some of the best English I've heard in the states by foreigners was spoken by the residents of Tijuana. No reason for neglect of the residents of Tijuana by Mexico is given except that Mexico does not acknowledge it exists and therefore it is not wanted. At the time of publication that may have been true Now, Mexico loves the American dollars pouring through and takes great pains along with the residents to make sure that daylight shopping hours are undisturbed. Still dangerous enough but not as much for the experienced border-crosser. Many characters are brief on the page and in existence. This doesn't bother Urrea. He blames America. It's all for the best. He sheds no tears and ultimately neither does the reader for these people behind the "tortilla curtain". Much of the activity for giving aid to the poor is done in trash dumps and orphanages. This book could never be written now. Too outdated. You would have to assign blame to someone. This is how the blame would be allotted. This is Harvard's acceptable prejudice: Mexico is a mess because of the Spanish colonists. Then the American Imperialists have furthered the plight of the poor with their capitalism. Now it is only a matter of time before the US reunites with Mexico to form a unified Mexican communist rule. This is an absurdity but this is what is taught in schools and why Urrea writes the way he does. This book had its time but is not worth reading now given the harsher reality of China working with the drug cartels to import drugs and traffic humans into slavery here in this country.

While not quite as compelling as Urrea's later "The Devil's Highway", this is still gripping writing. At his best, Mr. Urrea feels like non-fiction's answer to Cormac McCarthy. Using sparse, visual language, he creates imagery that cuts straight to the truth. He is the son of an American mother and Mexican father, and he has seen the wire from both sides.

No matter how you feel about the challenges that haunt the U.S./Mexico border - and I know that's an emotional, politically charged argument - this book tells personal stories of men and women who have lived on one or both sides, and the struggles they face, whether trying to find a better life, outrun demons or dealers, or simply survive in a world that seems to know few pleasures outside of mere survival. The book peaks with "Father's Day", the story of Urrea's father's tragic death.

This book was written in the early 90's, I believe. Keep that in mind as you read it. I truly recommend "Devil's Highway", a compelling true story of 20 Mexicans attempting to cross over into the U.S. Urrea puts you right there in the desert, amid the scorpions and the heat.

If you pick it up, be prepared to keep reading. "Across the Wire" is a hard one to put down.

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I think if I were stuck on a desert island and could only take one book, it might be this one. Important to me for very personal reasons ( )