Customer Reviews:
 This is Mexico October 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
At one point in this story of the author's travels in the lawless, dangerous Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico, his hosts take him to a cliff-side mountain viewpoint; they agree with him that it is a spectacular sight, remark on how lucky they are to live in such beautiful country, and then dump their garbage over the edge of the cliff. Later, he encounters villagers venerating a statute of God Himself - but it is so old and battered that only the middle finger is left unbroken. Such contrasts make up the heart of the book.
The author attempts to travel in and to describe the people of the Sierra Madre. His travels are interesting and eventful, his descriptions exact. Having lived for fifty years within a few hour's drive of most of the places he mentions (though on the American side of the border; and I have never travelled far into the Sierra Madre - he is surely a braver man than I), I find his discussions of Mexican attitudes, beliefs, lifestyle, and culture to be spot-on. What he describes is not confined to the mountains - reflections of what he sees there (increasingly including the violence) can be found throughout the country - although the isolation and hardship of life in the Sierra Madre accentuates them.
The few maps are rudimentary and give only a vague idea of the author's movements and of where the action occurs (befitting, perhaps, a travel book about a place you should never want to travel to). And in my opinion the title is a bit clumsy; possibly it was influenced by Spanish, in which such body-parts-of-the-deity phrases are more common and thus less jarring.
Otherwise, this is an excellent book. If you want to know what it is like to travel off the main highways in Mexico, and what it "feels" like to be anywhere at all in Mexico, read it. But ignore its tongue-in-cheek advice - do not eat street food in Mexico, even with lime juice.
In Depth Ride Through Hidden Mexico October 6, 2008
Author Richard Grant takes us on a wild ride through a side of Mexico I had only heard rumors about. Grant maintains the perfect balance of observer, participant, and historical perspective throughout while being honest about his reactions, his at times abject terror, and the absurdity of it all. I loved the humor - sometimes at his own expense - and the vivid portraits he paints of this area of the country. The "reality" we are given of Mexico on the news, particularly through political reports, is a far cry from the scenes in the canyons and drug ranches that Grant travels hundreds of miles through in the Sierra Madre. The funny thing is that the husband and I were looking into traveling down to the Copper Canyon area with our RV this winter after we saw a feature on the mountain biking in this area in a magazine. After reading this book, I don't think we'll venture south of Tucson!
In short, Grant goes beyond the myths, legends, and politically correct views of the Mexicans, natives, and drug traffickers in this area to the complicated truth of modern day people just trying to survive and thrive in a culture that is so completely different from our own.
There are crazy people in this world October 6, 2008
As my title suggests, there are crazy people in this world and I am happy that I get the chance to read about them......rather than mimic there actions. This true story is based on a writers journey through one of the deadliest places in Mexico due to the wilderness and, of course, the people who live there that range from simple farmers (guess what they grow) to killers who are hiding out. The Siera Madre was virtually unknown to me with the exception of a few minor memories that were sparked when the writer discussed the Apaches. Other than that, my apparent limited knowledge of geography and history allowed me to read this book with wide eyes and an "oh, I can't believe he would do something this stupid!" viewpoint. Lucky for the reader, the writer does do quite few stupid things that he was warned against doing so it puts him into situations that most of us would not be able to deal with.
The stories that the writer listens to from various people he encounters are incredible. Whether it is a discussion on Mexican/Apache wars, drug kings, or the local "healers", the story never gets boring and I found it hard to put down even after my train arrived in the station each day. I usually don't like true stories that go into a lot of history but this one was different because the writer kept the descriptions short and accompanied them with stories that were so fascinating (and sometimes you wonder if they were true....as did the writer) that it didn't bother me.
While I am not the thrill seeker by nature (like the writer), there were a few instances when I felt like I wanted to quit my job and go on a journey of some kind just so I can have stories to tell. Thankfully, common sense prevails so I will continue reading for the time being.
 Predictable, and Not That Exciting October 2, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I know, I'm not going to make any friends with this review, but, I calls 'em as I sees 'em.
First, this: Nancy Perl, Seattle's celebrity librarian, has a method for deciding when to abandon a book, and for someone like me that's a serious act, akin to betrayal, but here it is - up until the age of 50 you give the author 50 pages, and if (s)he hasn't gotten to you by then you can let the book go. For every year past 50, you give the author one less page, so by the time you reach 99, if the author hasn't grabbed you on page one, you can feel free to drop it, (it will probably slip out of your hand as your fifteenth nap of the day sets in anyway.) Today's my 62nd birthday, but even so, I gave Richard Grant 124 pages to grab me, and he didn't.
God's Middle Finger is predictable adventure journalism wherein the author, the "hero," for whatever reason - thrills, understanding, curiosity, man-hood - travels into one of the world's less pleasant places, survives, and comes out to tell us all about it. In the best of the genre we really do get to go on the hero's journey, and as the author learns something about his/her self we learn something about ourselves, and our world. Not so much with God's Middle Finger. The locale is interesting, but only nominally, the characters suffer a fatal sameness, and the situations (at least until page 124, and I suspect throughout) aren't all that enlightening. Mr. Grant goes into the Sierra Madre, meets some dicey characters, and then moves on - over and over again. I don't see how it was worth his time, it's not worth mine.
So, go ahead, click that unhelpful button, but I'm moving on to the next one...
A very literate thrill-seeker October 1, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
"So this is what it feels like to be hunted. My spine is pressed up against the bark of a pine tree. My heart hammers against my rib cage with astonishing force... The men in the truck are drunk and they have rifles and now there are other men on foot looking for me with flashlights."
As you probably surmised from the above passage from the prologue, Richard Grants' GOD'S MIDDLE FINGER is not your typical travelogue; it is one gringo's trip into the band lands of Mexico's Sierra Madre - and what he discovers there would make a hard boiled tough guy like Bogie make a run for the border! Nine-hundred lawless mile inhabited by scorpions, rattlesnakes, wanted men, drug runners, cowboys and misfits may not be the ideal vacation hot spot, but it sure provided Mr. Grant the setting and scenario for a thrilling and enjoyable true-life adventure story. I am still amazed he made it out alive to write about it.
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