Tuesday, June 30, 2009

My Review of Urrea's "Into the Beautiful North"


As expected, I enjoyed Luis Alberto Urrea's newest novel. I feel like he synthesized his life experiences around a "Quest" theme with an odd and delightful assortment of characters who are more real to me than my neighbors.
The women of Tres Camarones, Sinaloa, Mexico find themselves with a serious shortage of men; so many have gone North into 'Los Estados Unidos'. Inspired by the movie The Magnificent Seven, the main character, Nayeli (Nah-yell'-ee) decides to go North to recruit seven men to return and revitalize her village, and protect them from the drug bandidos who have just taken notice of how isolated yet close to Mazatlan their town is. With her are her two girlfriends and their friend Tacho, the gay taqueria/Internet Cafe owner.
I found many of the scenes funny and endearing, and many more that were frighteningly real in the illegal border crossing experience.
Again, as expected, I recommend this latest fine work to any reader.