Jeff Biggers - In the Sierra Madre

Jeff Biggers •In the Sierra Madre (Mexico's Copper Canyon)

WINNER OF THE FOREWORD MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2006 - GOLD MEDAL - TRAVEL ESSAYS

"An astonishing sojourn in a remote region." -- Booklist

"A compassionate and engaging view not just of the Raramuri, but of how they and their canyon home have been perceived, portrayed and affected by outsiders."
-- Arizona Republic

"An elegantly written book, filled with dry humor and spare, powerful language.This is history, culture and personal odyssey written with the zest of a fine adventure novel.It will educate and enlighten, but never bore."
--Guadalajara Reporter

"... numerous unforgettable characters, and situations that only a traveler of this ilk could manage. Biggers writes a decidedly adventurous narrative, but he is no adventurer. He is the quintessential observer, with the eye and voice of a poet."
--San Antonio Express - News

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 the 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, hidden Apache and Mennonite communities, bewildered archaeologists, addled writers, and legendary characters like Antonin Artaud, B. Traven, Sergei Eisenstein, George Patton, Geronimo and Pancho Villa, Biggers uncovers the remarkable treasures of the Sierra Madre(Mexico's Copper Canyon).

Read an excerpt from The Atlantic and Stellar magazine:
Searching for El Chapareke

Listen to an excerpt on PRI Savvy Traveler radio:
Movie Night in the Sierra Madre
Yumari ceremony in the Sierra Madre

Read an excerpt on World Hum:
Saying Goodbye in the Sierra Madre

Listen to an Interview on National Public Radio:
Latino USA

Other interviews with Jeff Biggers
KDHX Community Radio, St. Louis
WCPN Cleveland Public Radio "Around Noon"
Head on Radio with Bob Kincaid
Yellowstone Public Radio with Leni Holliman
WVIK Quad Cities Public Radio "About Books"
Free New Mexican newspaper, Santa Fe
La Prensa, San Diego (en espanol)
Stellar Magazine
InTravel Magazine

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University of Illinois Press
ISBN:0252031016

Buy at:
Book Sense
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

“Half a century after the release of the film, Jeff Biggers brings home the true treasure of the Sierra Madre: its stories. Biggers weaves a tapestry of intertwined tales that sheds light on this little-known region. Warm-hearted and compassionate, these stories bring to life the Raramuri."
--Michael Shapiro, author of A Sense of Place: Great Travel Writers Talk About Their Craft, Lives, and Inspiration

"Once every generation a book comes along that captures the stunning terrain and hidden life of Mexico's remote western Sierra Madre. In the Sierra Madre is that book for this generation. Jeff Biggers has seen the strange and remarkable that the rest of us can only imagine.”
--Tom Miller, author of The Panama Hat Trail and On the Border

“Jeff Biggers has the keenest eye in the business, and he has a fine, luminous voice to tell you what he has seen. This is a welcome addition to western and Mexican letters. Biggers manages to write like a poet, a historian, a naturalist and an adventurer. His pages are burnished and alive, and I admire his work. You need to read this one soon.”
--Luis Urrea, author of The Hummingbird’s Daughter, and The Devil’s Highway

US of Appalachia