A History of Violence: Living and Dying in Central America

ISBN-13: 9781784781712 / Angielski / Miękka / 2017 / 288 str.

Oscar Martinez

Opis

This is a book about one of the deadliest places in the world
El Salvador and Honduras have had the highest homicide rates in the world over the past ten years, with Guatemala close behind. Every day more than 1,000 people men, women, and children flee these three countries for North America. Oscar Martinez, author of The Beast, named one of the best books of the year by the Economist, Mother Jones, and the Financial Times, fleshes out these stark figures with true stories, producing a jarringly beautiful and immersive account of life in deadly locations.
Martinez travels to Nicaraguan fishing towns, southern Mexican brothels where Central American women are trafficked, isolated Guatemalan jungle villages, and crime-ridden Salvadoran slums. With his precise and empathetic reporting, he explores the underbelly of these troubled places. He goes undercover to drink with narcos, accompanies police patrols, rides in trafficking boats and hides out with a gang informer. The result is an unforgettable portrait of a region of fear and a subtle analysis of the North American roots and reach of the crisis, helping to explain why this history of violence should matter to all of us."

Recenzje

"Martínez dives into the underworld of his subjects, navigating barrios that police won't enter, spending days and nights with gang members. His methods resemble war reporting and his prose is cinematic ... The collection's strength lies in his ability to write the hell out of his material. Like Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers and Adrian Nicole LeBlanc's Random Family , it skimps on statistics and analysis, instead relying on description alone to create a world that captures the reader and doesn't let her go. One of the stories, 'El Niño Hollywood's Death Foretold,' evokes Gabriel García Márquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold . Like the beloved Colombian writer, Martínez pens scenes that are suspenseful, moving, and vivid."
- New Republic

"Martínez is a gifted storyteller with an astute, observant eye and a voice that beckons to be followed ... A History of Violence is a necessary read, especially for US government officials crafting immigration policy against migrants and refugees from the region. It sheds light on why so many are braving the treacherous trek through Mexico to reach the United States."
- Los Angeles Review of Books

"Martínez's credentials for writing about this ignored human tide are impeccable: his first book, The Beast , drew on eight trips clinging to the roof of the infamous migrants' train through Mexico, chronicling their desperation in grippingly graphic detail. His new book, A History of Violence , takes a step back to explore what the migrants heading to the US are running away from ... the unflinching cameos it paints offer a chilling portrait of corruption, unimaginable brutality and impunity."
- Financial Times

"If you take just one book to Central America on holiday, don't pick this one. Oscar Martinez has written a punishing account of the lives of the poor in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Melding acuity and anger, he unveils the scary realities of organised crime ... Mr Martinez deserves credit for bringing it so effectively to life."
- Economist

"As the current wave of US Immigration and Customs raids authorised by President Obama deports Latino migrants, and Donald Trump boosts his election campaign with promises to build a wall along the US-Mexican border, Martínez endeavours to explain why, for many Central Americans of the northern triangle, returning home is a death sentence."
- Independent

"Ripped from the headlines, these are powerful stories of Central America's chaotic and bloody present, sure to raise awareness among a broad audience of North Americans, whom Martínez refuses to let off the hook. 'The solution?' he asks. 'It's up to you.'"
- Library Journal

"In Spanish, the tradition of the crónica is in-depth testimonial reportage blended with personal essay, and Martínez is a worthy inheritor. Martínez's work conveys an intimate knowledge of the social and criminal ecosystem-both macro-level context and telling minutiae. But because he isn't afraid to follow dangerous paths, the result are jewels with moments of intense emotion presented against a historical background that contemplates military, social, economic, religious, psychosclogical and all sorts of other factors ... I am in awe of Martínez's commanding style. "
-Ilan Stavans, In These Times

"El Salvador's best chronicler of this profound crisis is Óscar Martínez, a journalist based in San Salvador. Martínez has dedicated his career to documenting how the matrix of poverty, instability, and narcotrafficking has transformed the lives and prospects of Central Americans. As a writer, he's a committed, old-school social realist, and traveled with migrants on their deadly northward route for his previous book about Central American migration, The Beast . His methods in A History of Violence are equally painstaking."
-Caille Millner, New Inquiry

"Agonizing stories ... [Martínez] urges readers to understand what Central Americans are going through and

O autorze

Óscar Martínez is the author of The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail . He writes for El Faro , the first online newspaper in Latin America.