Cutting for Sign

The first chapter of this book is as well-written as anything I've ever read. While the details of the book are now out of date, the general problems remain, and this is a great source of information about how things work (and don't work) along the border. Highly recommended, if you can get your hands on a copy. I enjoyed this even more than Langewiesche's later, better known books.

A very good read about the tense and diverse relations that exist at the Mexican - U.S. border. Author is a good storyteller, and offers great detail. A must for anyone seeking to understand our neighbor to the South.

I grew up on the Mexican border, and Langewiesche beautifully captures the schizophrenic love/hate relationship entangling the two sides. He writes with the clean, precise lines of the journalist, but gives the end result a spin of philosophy that could only come from really feeling the people and places he visits. Much like his second work, "Sahara Unveiled", this is much more than reportage. It's too bad not more people have read this book...I think it would greatly help Americans' understanding of border relations.

As a former City Manager of Marfa, Texas, I have observed and experienced first hand many of the incidents described in the book. For instance, the morning gathering of area ranchers at the former Thunderbird Restaurant, totally devoid of Hispanic participants; the persistent overtones of bigotry amoung many of the well established Anglo citizens;and, there are still semblances of the old "Patron" system alive and well.While I can't prove that my dismissal from my position as City Manager was based on the fact that I am Hispanic, I have no doubt that the racial aspect played a part in the decision to terminate my services. Many local residents have told me that the Mayor could not stand a smart well-educated Mexcican making him look bad.In any event, the description of Marfa and the region surrounding it are all surprising accurate. The author most certainly has a deep sense of morality, and an uncanny method of lucidly describing people, situations, and injustices.

In the 21st century, the United States will finally acknowledge that it's a largely spanish-speaking country. Meanwhile, Mexico remains a mystery to many of us. Not after reading this book: Without descending into a morass of facts, we learn about the essence of the place, and its relationship to the US. A well-written treatment with respect for its subject.