God's Middle Finger: Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre

Capitvating Title

This was my first intro to a travel guide & I give the author credit for being intriguing enough for me to want to read other books on travel. Most likely, however, I would not read another by him. The "sample" of this book and the introduction were the best parts of the book. In the middle I kept waiting to find out how he got into the situation protrayed in the introduction. The book really didn't build up to it & that experience turned out to be the most exciting thing that happened to him. At one point the author talked about being sick of the machismo of the men in the Sierra Madre. After as many references as he'd made, you are sick of it at that point too. Perhaps he could've condensed this book into a few chapters in a book with more exciting experiences. I wouldn't discount the book completely, however. I read it quickly, looking for an explanation for the beginning, but it was still a decent read.

Quite an adventure

Entertaining with a good mix of yarn spinning and interesting cultural observations. If you like Troost you will love Grant.

Greatly Recommended - extremely insightful

In GODS MIDDLE FINGER Richard Grant takes a trip threw the Sierra Madre mountains in Mexico. This area of Mexico is where most of the drug cartels reside. Threw out the book a reoccurring theme is the shear amount of danger because of the gross macho culture and lack of authority. Not until I read this book did I realize how little understanding I have of Mexico's culture. Grant let me see into the minds of Mexicans, he let me see that they live in a fairyland where the whole truth is worthless and storytelling prevails as fact. I found that at a few, and very few, junctions I became board because Grant went into too many specifics; again this was very marginal. Every American should read this book because it will give and unbelievable amount of insight into a country so close too our own. If you enjoyed this book I think you would also enjoy "The Glass Castle" because both books are truth and both books give insight into very different ways of living ones life. I highly recommend "God's Middle Finger."

Can't Stop Thinking About It

So much fun I read it in two sittings and have ordered more for family and friends. Typically a fiction reader, I may convert after this book--he provides an informational foray into a mysterious land with characters you couldn't invent if you tried. His descriptions of the various cultures and their mores are gritty and realistic, yet somehow tender. Mostly, this book is plain hilarious. It's not all fun, though--you will be thinking about this area of the world long after you read God's Middle Finger.

Excellent Adventure

I have told people that any book with such a title needs to be read. It lives up to expectations. Captivating, rich in detail and at times near breathless. To be sure there are one or two slow spells but the book is a quick read and fascinating in detail.
Having lived in the US near the Mexican border recently I was somewhat prepared for the vivid description of lawlessness and corruption just south of the border. I wonder though if people less familiar with the area can imagine the conditions the author describes. Murder and mayhem, drug and gun running, world class distance runners who love to smoke and drink.
I highly recommend this book for people interested in adventure or foreign relations for that matter.

Fascinating Read

Truth is stranger than fiction hike through a weirdly wonderful scary canyon of thieves, gangsters, murderers, and a cast of unsavories.

great book

i found this book in the travel section...strange place for it.loved this booked.it was exciting and filled with facts and fun.i learned a lot from this book..very very interesting and very well written.i have reccommened this book to many of my friends..i am sure you will love it too

A different kind of trip

The start hooked me in. The people were interesting. The history was educational. The current situation was enlightening. If the book were 75 pages shorter it would have been more enjoyable. Unfortunately it tended to return to the same core. There are drugs and narcos in the mountains, life is dangerous, despite the adversity life goes on. Perhaps the author had no choice, life in the Mexican mountains is as it is, and the sameness is only altered by the characters one met. But it seems that the ending of each tale became predictable. It was the sameness that hurt this work.

True to its honest grit!

Richard Grant he really did outstanding report of the serious issues that haunts and plauges the hispanic communities and its borders. A really must read for any politician who really wants to tackle the illegal immigration.

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