In the Sierra Madre | 
| Author: Jeff Biggers
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $10.76
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Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 551107
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.6
ISBN: 0252074998
Dewey Decimal Number: 917
EAN: 9780252074998
ASIN: 0252074998
Publication Date: July 27, 2007
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Product Description
The Sierra Madre - no other mountain range in the world possesses such a ring of intrigue. "In the Sierra Madre" is a groundbreaking and extraordinary memoir that chronicles the astonishing history of one of the most famous, yet unknown regions in the world. Based on his one-year sojourn in Copper Canyon among the Raramuri/Tarahumara, award-winning journalist Jeff Biggers offers a rare look into the ways of the most resilient indigenous culture in the Americas, the exploits of Mexican mountaineers, and the fascinating parade of argonauts and accidental travelers who have journeyed into the Sierra Madre over centuries. From African explorers, Bohemian friars, Confederate and Irish war deserters, French poets, Boer and Russian commandos, Apache and Mennonite communities, bewildered archaeologists, addled writers, and legendary characters including Antonin Artaud, Henry Flipper, B. Traven, Sergei Eisenstein, George Patton, Geronimo, and Pancho Villa, Biggers uncovers the remarkable treasures of the Sierra Madre.
Book Description
The Sierra Madre--no other mountain range in the world possesses such a ring of intrigue. In the Sierra Madre is a groundbreaking and extraordinary memoir that chronicles the astonishing history of one of the most famous, yet unknown, regions in the world. Based on his one-year sojourn among the Raramuri/Tarahumara, award-winning journalist Jeff Biggers offers a rare look into the ways of the most resilient indigenous culture in the Americas, the exploits of Mexican mountaineers, and the fascinating parade of argonauts and accidental travelers that has journeyed into the Sierra Madre over centuries. From African explorers, Bohemian friars, Confederate and Irish war deserters, French poets, Boer and Russian commandos, Apache and Mennonite communities, bewildered archaeologists, addled writers, and legendary characters including Antonin Artaud, B. Traven, Sergei Eisenstein, George Patton, Geronimo, and Pancho Villa, Biggers uncovers the remarkable treasures of the Sierra Madre.
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| Customer Reviews:
Great Insight January 27, 2007
34 out of 34 found this review helpful
Biggers book of experiences living in a Tarahumara village capture the many nuances of life here in the Sierra. His writing has a good, readable style and is fun to boot. His tangents although sometimes distracting are always informative and frequently educational. Biggers is to be respected for not naming the village where he lived but he provides more than enough clues to figure out the location. Although not a general travel book, Biggers book is a must-read for anyone wanting a true and enjoyable insight into the Tarahumara style of living.
travel writing that makes you want to travel to Copper Canyon November 8, 2006
47 out of 48 found this review helpful
In the Sierra Madre is one of the best travel memoirs I've read in years. It's a real page turner. I couldn't put it down. Situated in Mexico's Copper Canyon, author Jeff Biggers traverses the legendary canyons of the native Raramuri or Tarahumara, while weaving in the history of centuries of travelers, including some unforgettable characters like writer/adventurer Frederick Schwatka, George S. Patton and Black Jack Pershing, an Irish lord and his African American mistress, etc etc. Biggers is funny, informed, and his pages move from story to story. And of course, the fabulous tale of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre always lurks in the background. This is a great book and makes me want to travel to Copper Canyon. By the way, Biggers in person is also quite a raconteur. Should he come to town, don't hesitate to see his performance.
Treasures of Copper Canyon September 5, 2006
61 out of 61 found this review helpful
Since I made the train journey up to Copper Canyon, I bought this book and felt like I re-lived the trip, and then another I wished I had made. This is a wonderful, moving, often poetic, memoir of an American's year-long sojourn in a Tarahumara (he uses the traditional name, Raramuri) Indian village. The writing, however, never falls into any anthropological notes. Biggers moves back and forth from his own experiences in his adopted village, where he chops wood with the local lumberjacks and plants corn and weathers the worst drought in the region's history, and the often hilarious adventures of famous travelers who have made their own foray into the canyons. The book's range is fantastic: characters like French poet Artaud, black West Point cadet Henry Flipper, a young George S. Patton, and a Russian sailor--to name only a few--pepper the stories like characters from a great drama. Jeff Biggers, who is the author of a book on Appalachia, is that chatty companion you wished you had along for the journey, someone who knows world literature and history as well as he knows the intimate details of the local canyons and people, and someone who loves to mix the two. Biggers writes about the ups and downs of tourism in Mexico's famed Copper Canyon by spinning a tale of a modern-day tragicomedy based on the Greek Antigone; he discusses the plight of logging by recalling a poem by Scottish bard Robert Burns and the Scottish debacle at Darien.
I'd recommend this to anyone planning a trip to Copper Canyon, or those armchair travelers who love their world history written through a great journey.
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