Fwd: Borderlands: Recommended Reading
Molly Molloy
From: Vanessa Johnson from Notes from the Beautiful Periphery <vjel...@substack.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Subject: Borderlands: Recommended Reading
After a long summer, I’m finally taking a week away—and I want to leave readers with a short list of favorite books about our borderlands. In no particular order, here are twenty books that every El Pasoan should read, and anyone else interested in themes of borderland resilience.
“In the Days of Victorio: Recollections of a Warm-Spring Apache” – by Eve Ball Ball moved to Ruidoso, New Mexico in 1942 and conducted dozens of oral histories of Apaches who had grown up fighting with leaders like Victorio, Cochise and Geronimo. This gripping account is by far my favorite. “The Journey and Ordeal of Cabeza de Vaca” – by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca This is an incredible account of an eight-year journey that covered more than 6,000 miles, from 1528-1536, and provides some of the first anthropological observations of native peoples in the American Southwest, and the first written glimpses of my city from a Spaniard. “Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History” - by Paul Horgan Admittedly a long read, this 1954 Pulitzer-Prize winning history is worth the time and gives context to our claims over the river’s surrounding lands. “Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism” – by Harsha Walia Walia is one of the clearest thinkers and systematically dismantles all the arguments made for tighter borders. While not explicitly about the U.S.-Mexico border, she places the expansion of borders and racism in a disturbing framework of rising nationalism. “The Case for Open Borders” – by John Washington In case you weren’t convinced by Walia’s arguments, Washington’s 2024 book is shorter and less academic, but just as clear-sighted. He has particularly helpful tips about how to argue with your relatives at the Thanksgiving table. “Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis” – by Jonathan Blitzer Blitzer tackles migration along the southern border by putting a human face on it. Through his years of reporting, we meet people both in Central America and the United States whose lives have been impacted by forces beyond their control - gangs, climate change, political upheaval - and who manage to persevere and contribute to this country. His larger lens shows how this is very much a “crisis” of our own making. “Dirty Dealing: Drug Smuggling on the Mexican Border and the Assassination of a Federal Judge--An American Parable” – by Gary Cartwright Along with Charles Bowden’s “Down by the River” (runner-up), this is the classic account of drug-running in El Paso and the true crime drama behind the 1979 assassination of Federal Judge John “Maximum” Woods. “Border Patrol Nation: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Homeland Security” – by Todd Miller Along with Reece Jones’ “Nobody Is Protected” (runner-up), this book exposes the growth of the border security complex and the distressing consequences of living within this 100-mile Constitution-free zone. “The General and the Jaguar: Pershing's Hunt for Pancho Villa: A True Story of Revolution & Revenge” – by Eileen Welsome This is a captivating account of General John Pershing’s incursion into Mexico in search of Pancho Villa, following the 1916 attack on Columbus, New Mexico. “Homelands: Four Friends, Two Countries, and the Fate of the Great Mexican-American Migration” – by Alfredo Corchado Crafted with much love, Corchado writes a moving personal history that interweaves friendships with a larger history of recent migration from Mexico. “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” – by Benjamin Alire Sáenz More so than his non-fiction (which is also strong), Sáenz’s award-winning young adult novel captures the beauty of growing up in El Paso. His characters produce for me an incredible nostalgia, despite their experiences being so different from my own. I knew them. “The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America” – by Andrés Reséndez This is an amazing untold history of how many Native Americans were enslaved and traded - by the Spanish, other native tribes, and later Anglo colonizers - and of the vast amount of wealth that was extracted from their labor. It includes some beautiful stories of escape and travel across the Rio Grande to the mountains of New Mexico. “Blockading the Border and Human Rights: The El Paso Operation that Remade Immigration Enforcement” – by Timothy J. Dunn Dunn’s description of “Operation Blockade” marks the “beginning of the end,” or the start of the obsession with border security along our peaceful river. This is required reading for those who want to understand how we got to where we are today. “Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout”- by Philip Connors Connors writes a moving meditation on the forest and the beauty of solitude, from his perch as a fire lookout in the Black Range of the Gila National Forest. “Ringside Seat to a Revolution: An Underground Cultural History of El Paso and Juárez: 1893-1923” – by David Dorado Romo Romo’s groundbreaking book fills in many gaps about our understanding of this particular period in El Paso and Juarez. “Los de Abajo” – by Mariano Azuela (“The Underdogs” in English) A classic novel of the Mexican Revolution that was written in El Paso, based on the author’s experience as a medic in Pancho Villa’s Northern Division. “Juarez: The Laboratory of Our Future” – by Charles Bowden Along with Julian Cardona’s excellent photography, this is a bleak but realistic view of how capitalism functions in Juarez, from the maquilas to the streets. “El Paso's Geologic Past” - by Earl M.P. Lovejoy Accessible to a non-geologist, this slim volume is for the hikers and naturalists and those who ever wondered where certain dirt formations came from, which way our mountains are moving, and what this region once looked like. It’s out of print – but I have extra copies in my office if anyone wants one. “Puro Border: Dispatches, Snapshots, & Graffiti from the US/Mexico Border” – Edited by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite and John William Byrd This is a dynamic collection of excerpts, magazine articles, poetry, and musings about the border from writers both north and south of the line. It includes a partial reading list much like this one for those who want to explore further. Anything by Lucia Berlin – such as Evening in Paradise, A Manual for Cleaning Women, and So Long I have an affinity for her writing and have lived in the same states (AK, CA, NM) as well as the central El Paso neighborhood next to where she grew up. Her stories about the neighborhood characters, playing in the monsoon rains in Sunset Heights, and clandestine abortion clinics in Juarez are particularly memorable. Drop me a note with your own suggestions or favorites. Happy reading!
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© 2025 Vanessa Johnson
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