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

Description

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. 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 Finger brings to vivid life a truly unique and uncharted world.

Get the book

Amazon.com

Search the book

eBay.com

Search the book

Other editions

• 

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

  • 2008-03-04
  • 304 pages
  • Paperback
  • Simon and Schuster

Similar books

• 

  Knoxville, Tennessee: A Mountain City in the New South

  By William Bruce Wheeler

  In the early 1970s the Boeing Corporation had sent planners to the region for the purpose of building a new city , to be named Timberlake , near the Tellico ...

• 

  Britannia in Brief: The Scoop on All Things British

  By Leslie Banker, William Mullins

  Robbie Williams Like Justin Timberlake, Robbie Williams got his start in a boy band then parlayed that success into something much bigger.

• 

  New England, 1999

  By Wayne Curtis, Herbert B. Livesey, Marie Morris

  Frost lived in a cabin on a farm across the road for 23 summers . ... but it's also open to the public at rates of about half what you'd pay at Killington .

• 

  Frommer's New England 2003

  By Wayne Curtis, Marie Morris, Laura M. Reckford

  You'll never fall into the tourist traps when you travel with Frommer's. It's like having a friend show you around, taking you to the places locals like best. Our expert...

• 

  Frommer's? New England 2002

  By Wayne Curtis, Marie Morris, Laura M. Reckford

  "Using the expertise of knowledgeable travel writers and editors, Frommer's New England is stuffed like a turkey, with slivers of information spilling out as soon as you open the cover.Even...

• 

  The Rough Guide to Peru

  By Sara Humphreys, Steph Dyson, Todd Obolsky

  S/620 01 446 9414, HI Hostel Lima Casimiro Ulloa 328 hihostels.com; map. A great deal, this is the top-rated HI hostel in the capital.

• 

  Chicago - Frommer's Travel Guides

  By Todd A. Savage

  The most authoritative, easy-to-use guide a traveller can buy

• 

  French By Heart: An American Family's Adventures in La Belle France

  By Rebecca S. Ramsey

  In a year or so, y'a.ll will move back home andTodd'll buy you some big house in Crawford Creek and you're ... But what is the deal with hotel rooms here?

• 

  Sons of Thunder

  By James Timberlake

  Book One: Sons of Thunder is the first of two books based on one summers 2000 mile trek across southern Europe.

• 

  Food Artisans of Alberta: Your Trail Guide to the Best Locally Crafted Fare

  By Karen Anderson, Matilde Sanchez-Turri

  Owners J.P. Fortin and Danielle Black Fortin have a base camp and café in Capstone at Riverlands in Red Deer. Check them out at pursuitadventures.ca.