≫ Libro God Middle Finger Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre Richard Grant 9781416534402 Books

God Middle Finger Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre Richard Grant 9781416534402 Books

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God Middle Finger Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre Richard Grant 9781416534402 Books

The cover of Richard Grant's book God's Middle Finger describes his travels as being "into the lawless heart of the Sierra Madre." That is an extremely accurate depiction of what he did. He had always had an urge to travel extensively throughout the Sierra Madre, plus he liked to live life on the edge and found that a sense of boredom crept into his daily life if adventure was not a part of his activities. Well, the travels he covers in his book go way beyond what most of us would find to be an acceptable level of adventure.
Early on Mr. Grant solicited advice from experienced Sierra Madre travelers. Most of them said he was foolish for even considering such a trip. The primary recommendation was to stay home. The mountains were rugged. Conditions were tough. Most of the area had no law enforcement and was controlled by narcotics syndicates. Marijuana ranches were common and were heavily guarded by well-armed, heavy-drinking cowboys who basically had no respect for life. Weapons were everywhere - rifles, pistols, AK-47s, etc.
However, the author decided to take his chances. He improved his Spanish and his horseback riding skills. He made connections with people in the Sierra Madre whenever possible because the appropriate introductions often could be lifesavers. Then off he went. During his trip he was prescribed rattlesnake pills for insomnia: he searched for buried treasure: he watched bizarre religious ceremonies; basically he did things that the average person would not. It all makes for fascinating reading.
Mr. Grant is particularly good at increasing the level of tension in the book as he goes along. He begins with a tease of a time when he was chased at night by two heavily armed, drunken cowboys who wanted nothing less than to kill him just for the pure fun of it. For the resolution of this situation, the reader has to wait until the last chapter. However, all the chapters in between are packed with extremely detailed descriptions of characters and the amazing landscape of the Sierra Madre.
God's Middle Finger is an excellent book. I have no desire to go to the parts of the Sierra Madre that the author visited, but I found it extremely interesting to read about them.


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God Middle Finger Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre Richard Grant 9781416534402 Books Reviews

A good scary read about Mexico 10 years ago.
Am a big Copper Canyon fan and a lot of this centers in the region.
Liked it so much, bought a second used copy for my cousin.
He had several DEA friends at one time and said that Grant's writing reminded him of their "war stories".
This story is funny and terrifying. Who knew the evil that exists in the Sierra Madre? Drugs are destroying our country, but have decimated Mexico. Grant is a proficient writer who must be a little nuts to go there in the first place. He took us so we don't have to go.
I have become a huge Richard Grant fan and have read his books on Africa, Mississippi, American Nomads.. and this one.

Grant is a good writer and an observant, honest journalist. He describes his experiences in a readable and entertaining way and always puts them in an historical context. He really does make the history come alive and for this alone I am indebted to Grant

All books I have read have a common theme. He launches himself into adventure with a minimum of planning and a maximum of faith and most of all a sense of adventure. But he lacks the gigantic ego and self-aggrandizement that one might expect from this kind of book. He is actually more interested in talking to people and getting an honest take on the culture he is experiencing.

He is a very different writer than Hunter S Thompson but he reminds me of him. A large part of each book consists of him drinking or doing drugs with locals. That is one way he makes friends and gets beyond the surface of the culture.

Having said all this, God’s Middle Finger was the book I found the least interesting. It had the most personal danger for the author but the Sierra Madre culture stayed pretty impenetrable to me and not one I wanted to learn more about. There was one trek after another but I didn’t get the same sense of curiosity about place and culture that I did about say Africa or Mississippi.

Still he is a very good writer and anything he writes is worth reading.
My thirty-something son recommended this book to me and, at least at first, I really found it fascinating. Why someone, especially an English, from England, someone would want to go into one of the most lawless sections of North America was one of the main reasons I wanted to read it. And the author explains that very well while he is giving background stories of the area and famous people who populated it.
His adventures are true modern day great stories of wonderful people trapped into growing and selling marijuana and being surrounding by very, VERY bad guys who will get too drunk with alcohol, too high from drugs and too ego-stung with power so will shoot you with little provocation just to feed the trigger finger.
Like the author, Itoward the end, grew tired of the macho male attitude and was glad to get out when he did.
Unfortunate title will prevent many people from purchasing and reading this book. The book provides excellent background information to explain why the war on drugs seems to get no where despite the billions of dollars thrown at it. I appreciated the historical information about others who have explored this area and its people and how drugs have changed it, and also the honest questioning by the author about why he was doing this journey at all (like why do people go to North Korea?). I would like to recommend it to friends, but again, I know the title would not appeal to them. Hope you will rethink the place this book could have in the discussion about the US relationship with Mexico and the complications of the drug industry, and rebrand it.
The cover of Richard Grant's book God's Middle Finger describes his travels as being "into the lawless heart of the Sierra Madre." That is an extremely accurate depiction of what he did. He had always had an urge to travel extensively throughout the Sierra Madre, plus he liked to live life on the edge and found that a sense of boredom crept into his daily life if adventure was not a part of his activities. Well, the travels he covers in his book go way beyond what most of us would find to be an acceptable level of adventure.
Early on Mr. Grant solicited advice from experienced Sierra Madre travelers. Most of them said he was foolish for even considering such a trip. The primary recommendation was to stay home. The mountains were rugged. Conditions were tough. Most of the area had no law enforcement and was controlled by narcotics syndicates. Marijuana ranches were common and were heavily guarded by well-armed, heavy-drinking cowboys who basically had no respect for life. Weapons were everywhere - rifles, pistols, AK-47s, etc.
However, the author decided to take his chances. He improved his Spanish and his horseback riding skills. He made connections with people in the Sierra Madre whenever possible because the appropriate introductions often could be lifesavers. Then off he went. During his trip he was prescribed rattlesnake pills for insomnia he searched for buried treasure he watched bizarre religious ceremonies; basically he did things that the average person would not. It all makes for fascinating reading.
Mr. Grant is particularly good at increasing the level of tension in the book as he goes along. He begins with a tease of a time when he was chased at night by two heavily armed, drunken cowboys who wanted nothing less than to kill him just for the pure fun of it. For the resolution of this situation, the reader has to wait until the last chapter. However, all the chapters in between are packed with extremely detailed descriptions of characters and the amazing landscape of the Sierra Madre.
God's Middle Finger is an excellent book. I have no desire to go to the parts of the Sierra Madre that the author visited, but I found it extremely interesting to read about them.