Book description
Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2019, an electrifying memoir from a Mexican-American US Border Patrol guard
'Stunningly good... The best thing I've read for ages'
James Rebanks, author of The Shepherd's Life
Francisco Cantu was a US Border Patrol agent from 2008 to 2012.
In this extraordinary…
Why read it?
2 authors picked The Line Becomes a River as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Much of “the line,” as Border Patrol agents and migrants sometimes call the border, is far from big cities and curious journalists. And a lot of what happens there, happens under cover of darkness or behind the secured doors of Border Patrol stations.
As a former Border Patrol agent, Cantú saw what happened when no one else was looking. His memoir shares it with the rest of us.
From César's list on turning immigration policies into human stories.
Melding his time as a Border Patrol agent with memories of exploring the Mexico-U.S. border region as a child with his mother, Cantú provides a dynamic mash-up of a book: one part insider account from within the agency, detailing his encounters with violent criminals as well as desperate migrants, and one part personal meditation on the border region, searching for meaning and understanding when it comes to the landscape and complicated histories of the U.S. southern border region.
From D.W.'s list on understanding borders in a globalized world.
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German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
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