Alfredo Corchado's Blog, page 2
April 26, 2013
Weekly Wrap-Up
Thanks to Joel Salcido for this photo!
Hey all, it’s been a busy week, and several exciting announcements:
–In case you missed it, I was lucky enough to be interviewed for the Texas Monthly. Check it out!
–Enter the giveaway raffle to get your free copy of Midnight in Mexico! 20 days left to enter.
–Don’t forget to check the tour schedule – there are new additions.
–And please, if you don’t already “like” the FB page, please do. And share with friends. Final countdown to publication has begun!
April 21, 2013
April 11, 2013
Just up – Full Text of Kirkus Review!
Hi all — My book was just reviewed by Kirkus. Check it out.
Here’s full text:
MIDNIGHT IN MEXICO
A Reporter’s Journey Through a Country’s Descent Into Darkness
Author: Alfredo Corchado
Review Issue Date: May 1, 2013
Online Publish Date: April 10, 2013
Publisher:Penguin Press
Pages: 288
Price ( Hardcover ): $27.95
Publication Date: May 30, 2013
ISBN ( Hardcover ): 978-1-59420-439-5
Category: Nonfiction
Mexico-born U.S. journalist Corchado frames a portrait of a torn nation within an account of escaping his own murder.
“By the time this book is published,” writes Dallas Morning NewsMexico bureau chief Corchado, “nearly ninety thousand people will have been killed or disappeared since President Calderón launched a war on the cartels.” Any number of people might have wanted him among them: the Zetas, enforcers for a Mexican drug lord who became drug lords themselves; lesser drug lords; corrupt officials within the military or government. As he writes, on receiving the death threat, “I scanned my recent work…looking for the story that could have pissed them off—whoever they were.” Having lived and reported through four presidencies (a Mexican president serves a single six-year term), Corchado was well-placed to gauge the seriousness of the threat—and, having gauged it, wise to head back to El Norte, the cause of so many of Mexico’s woes. His own story is emblematic, to be sure, but also common enough: After all, hundreds of young people lie dead in Ciudad Juárez because of the psychopathy attendant in the drug trade. More interesting than his personal travails are the author’s reflections on aMexico that is malformed and crime-stricken largely because of American influences, unintended perhaps but real nonetheless, the drug cartels having filled an economic and political vacuum produced by neoliberal free trade. In fact, the cartels are perfect examples of free trade, with one drug lord standing on “the Forbes list of the world’s billionaires.” Corchado is short on prescription but long on description, especially of the disastrous policies of the George W. Bush administration, some of which helped flood Mexico with automatic weapons.
People are willing to do anything about Latin America other than read about it, or so it’s been said. This is one book about Latin America that merits attention.
April 5, 2013
New Tour Dates!
Hey all – I’ve added some cities/events to the book tour page. Check it out!
April 3, 2013
EVENT TOMORROW at University of Texas, Austin!
Covering Mexico for Texas: Correspondents in the Borderlands and Beyond
TOMORROW NIGHT, 4-6, The University of Texas at Austin – please join!
