Murder City
Ciudad Juarez and the Global Economy's New Killing Fields
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4.3 • 8 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Ciudad Juarez lies just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. A once-thriving border town, it now resembles a failed state. Infamously known as the place where women disappear, its murder rate exceeds that of Baghdad.
In Murder City, Charles Bowden-one of the few journalists who spent extended periods of time in Juarez-has written an extraordinary account of what happens when a city disintegrates. Interweaving stories of its inhabitants-a beauty queen who was raped, a repentant hitman, a journalist fleeing for his life-with a broader meditation on the town's descent into anarchy, Bowden reveals how Juarez's culture of violence will not only worsen, but inevitably spread north.
Heartbreaking, disturbing, and unforgettable, Murder City was written at the height of his powers and established Bowden as one of America's leading journalists.
Customer Reviews
Industrial hellscape set against the beauty of the Chihuahuan Desert
This is a violent book. Bowden is a master of his craft and has been working this beat a long time. He also has quite a body of work that I’m not familiar with. It’s still unconventional immersive journalism in the style of Tom Wolfe, John McPhee, or Hunter S. Thompson. But given the sensitivity of the topic he leaves out a lot of specifics (your typical 5 W’s and H). It’s very provocative. His focus on or profile of “El Pastor” stands out. I sort of don’t quite trust it. I felt that the late 2000’s violence in Chihuahua State was a crisis, and it’s worth reflecting on, but I would need to get more familiar with Mexico before I would accept some of Bowden’s conclusions and opinions.