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City of Omens: A Search for the Missing Women of the Borderlands
Epidemiologist and Canadian National Magazine Award winner Dan Werb's CITY OF OMENS, a public-health true-crime narrative in which an investigation into the skyrocketing murder rates of Tijuana's women opens up a striking new lens into immigration, the drug war, human trafficking, and the US-Mexico border.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published June 4, 2019
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507 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 17, 2021
Because this book only has 18 reviews, I'm going to try a bit harder to review it in order to communicate the problems I had with it. This review does contain some spoilers, but they don't spoil much, because there isn't much to this book to spoil.
First the good:
Dan Werb does a good job of describing the current situation in Tijuana, primarily with regards to sex workers. He outlines compelling reasons that Tijuana is in this state. He shows compassion for the people there, and shows a genuine desire to help them and to point out the injustices they face.
The bad:
The premise of the book is this: women are living and dying in Tijuana as victims of sex work and the opioid crisis. The author, Dan Werb, attempts to look at the problem as an epidemic, such as a virus that spreads through the population.
Note that the title of this book implies a different premise. "A Search for the Missing Women of the Borderlands." Nowhere in this book does any such search occur. In fact, that book doesn't really establish that the women are missing. Pretty much every woman mentioned in this book is either 1) not missing, or 2) dead. This isn't my main complaint for the book, but it is an example of a problem that crops up throughout it: There's a big difference between what the author is trying to do here, and what he actually is doing. I'm guessing that the title was the publisher's choice rather than the author's. This is probably because the publisher understood that the actual subject of the book seems boring and unappealing to the average book reader. I chose this book for Book of the Month because I was concerned about women going missing at the border. And while I did learn about women facing other serious issues at the border, the publisher chose not to address those actual issues in the title. Why? The description of the book labels it as true crime, probably to make it more popular with algorithms, but this isn't really a true crime book.
This book is a combination of a narrative retelling of Werb's experiences as a man pursuing his PHD while working with a group that attempts to help women dealing with addiction to opioids and at risk of contracting the AIDS virus in Tijuana, as well as a series of repeated definitions of the word "epidemic" and what an epidemic is. The definitions far outweigh the more interesting stories of the experiences of the women who are facing the problems. Any time the book even approaches addressing these women, it immediately pivots to once again explaining to the reader in detail what an epidemic is, sort of like someone changes the subject in order to ignore the elephant in the room.
Werb constantly cuts away from Tijuana to talk about how he "suddenly had a theory" that the women's experiences could be catalogued and tracked like a virus epidemic. He spends paragraph after paragraph describing himself looking at data, and even more fascinatingly, reading the dictionary. Yes, there are multiple paragraphs where Werb narrates his experiences reading the dictionary, looking up words like "epidemic," reading the definition "over and over." You would think that a man pursuing a PHD in this matter would know what an epidemic is, and I hope by the end of the book he did, because he kept repeating it over and over. Of course, I'm sure that Werb does actually know the definition, and fabricated this scintillating journey through the dictionary for the benefit of the reader, but it made him look silly and made me feel like I was missing something every time he brought it up.
"An epidemic is..." I would say around 100 paragraphs in the book start with those words. Dan Werb repeats himself over and over in this book making the same points he made in the previous paragraph, on the previous page, in the previous chapter. I would wager there's about 80 pages of content in this book, and the rest is just repetition of what he's already said. This book is short, with around 250 pages of content, but it was maddening to try to get that far because I felt like I was reading the same sentence over and over when in reality, I had read 20 pages. This is a problem, because by the end of the book I still didn't know just WHAT the epidemic was. Was it violence? Was it drugs? What was the disease? While the broad definitely of AN epidemic is constantly defined, the one in the book never is.
I am not sure who this book is intended for. It reads like a man trying to make an academic argument, but I get the sense that this book wouldn't get past any peer-read scrutiny... which is probably why he decided to publish it as a book instead. Dan Werb claims over and over in the book that it's important for someone studying an epidemic not to get too close to his subjects, not to think about their stories or personal struggles, and to focus only on the data. This, of course, makes for a boring book. Moreover, he very rarely uses data to back up his arguments at all. Instead he almost entirely relies on the personal stories of 3 woman, particularly one named Rosa. He goes back to the same story Rosa told over and over and uses that one story as the entire basis for his argument.
Over and over in the book Werb realizes he has to change his theory, because oddly enough basing an entire theory on an epidemic on the testimony of one or two people is stupid. He will meet someone else with a different experience, be "blown away" that their experience was different, and try to reformulate his theory, which means opening up the dictionary again to make sure that the definition of the word "epidemic" is still what he thought it was. It's complete madness.
Werb is consistently surprised when the Mexicans in Tijuana use big words or imply they might be educated. He was so surprised that the chief of police used the word "laboratory" that he put it in this book. He does this A LOT in the book. It's so patronizing. Despite spending years in Tijuana with the people there he's constantly being shocked that he underestimated the intelligence of the people there and that his suggestions and ideas don't work with the culture of the city, despite people telling him so for years. He never trusts what any Mexican person tells him about what is happening in Tijuana... unless they confirm his epidemic theory, in which case whatever they say is gold.
Towards the end of the book, Werb attempts to prove that his theory has a direct positive impact on the community in Tijuana. However, most of the positive actions to solve the crisis that he cites took place almost a decade before he ever arrived in Tijuana and formulated his theory. I get the sense that this book is an amalgamation of two things: the book Werb wanted to write (about individual stories of the women in Tijuana he interviewed and an explanation of how the city got to its current state) and the book he felt he had to write (which was comparing to what was going on in the city as an epidemic). I don't think his heart was in the latter bits, and it shows.
While I learned a lot from this book, in the end I think that its premise didn't work. He didn't need to look at the problem using epidemiology. He was able to explain almost every issue faced by people in Tijuana using social science, rather than regular science. Harping on the epidemic theory simply served as a distraction from the parts that mattered and had meaning.
First the good:
Dan Werb does a good job of describing the current situation in Tijuana, primarily with regards to sex workers. He outlines compelling reasons that Tijuana is in this state. He shows compassion for the people there, and shows a genuine desire to help them and to point out the injustices they face.
The bad:
The premise of the book is this: women are living and dying in Tijuana as victims of sex work and the opioid crisis. The author, Dan Werb, attempts to look at the problem as an epidemic, such as a virus that spreads through the population.
Note that the title of this book implies a different premise. "A Search for the Missing Women of the Borderlands." Nowhere in this book does any such search occur. In fact, that book doesn't really establish that the women are missing. Pretty much every woman mentioned in this book is either 1) not missing, or 2) dead. This isn't my main complaint for the book, but it is an example of a problem that crops up throughout it: There's a big difference between what the author is trying to do here, and what he actually is doing. I'm guessing that the title was the publisher's choice rather than the author's. This is probably because the publisher understood that the actual subject of the book seems boring and unappealing to the average book reader. I chose this book for Book of the Month because I was concerned about women going missing at the border. And while I did learn about women facing other serious issues at the border, the publisher chose not to address those actual issues in the title. Why? The description of the book labels it as true crime, probably to make it more popular with algorithms, but this isn't really a true crime book.
This book is a combination of a narrative retelling of Werb's experiences as a man pursuing his PHD while working with a group that attempts to help women dealing with addiction to opioids and at risk of contracting the AIDS virus in Tijuana, as well as a series of repeated definitions of the word "epidemic" and what an epidemic is. The definitions far outweigh the more interesting stories of the experiences of the women who are facing the problems. Any time the book even approaches addressing these women, it immediately pivots to once again explaining to the reader in detail what an epidemic is, sort of like someone changes the subject in order to ignore the elephant in the room.
Werb constantly cuts away from Tijuana to talk about how he "suddenly had a theory" that the women's experiences could be catalogued and tracked like a virus epidemic. He spends paragraph after paragraph describing himself looking at data, and even more fascinatingly, reading the dictionary. Yes, there are multiple paragraphs where Werb narrates his experiences reading the dictionary, looking up words like "epidemic," reading the definition "over and over." You would think that a man pursuing a PHD in this matter would know what an epidemic is, and I hope by the end of the book he did, because he kept repeating it over and over. Of course, I'm sure that Werb does actually know the definition, and fabricated this scintillating journey through the dictionary for the benefit of the reader, but it made him look silly and made me feel like I was missing something every time he brought it up.
"An epidemic is..." I would say around 100 paragraphs in the book start with those words. Dan Werb repeats himself over and over in this book making the same points he made in the previous paragraph, on the previous page, in the previous chapter. I would wager there's about 80 pages of content in this book, and the rest is just repetition of what he's already said. This book is short, with around 250 pages of content, but it was maddening to try to get that far because I felt like I was reading the same sentence over and over when in reality, I had read 20 pages. This is a problem, because by the end of the book I still didn't know just WHAT the epidemic was. Was it violence? Was it drugs? What was the disease? While the broad definitely of AN epidemic is constantly defined, the one in the book never is.
I am not sure who this book is intended for. It reads like a man trying to make an academic argument, but I get the sense that this book wouldn't get past any peer-read scrutiny... which is probably why he decided to publish it as a book instead. Dan Werb claims over and over in the book that it's important for someone studying an epidemic not to get too close to his subjects, not to think about their stories or personal struggles, and to focus only on the data. This, of course, makes for a boring book. Moreover, he very rarely uses data to back up his arguments at all. Instead he almost entirely relies on the personal stories of 3 woman, particularly one named Rosa. He goes back to the same story Rosa told over and over and uses that one story as the entire basis for his argument.
Over and over in the book Werb realizes he has to change his theory, because oddly enough basing an entire theory on an epidemic on the testimony of one or two people is stupid. He will meet someone else with a different experience, be "blown away" that their experience was different, and try to reformulate his theory, which means opening up the dictionary again to make sure that the definition of the word "epidemic" is still what he thought it was. It's complete madness.
Werb is consistently surprised when the Mexicans in Tijuana use big words or imply they might be educated. He was so surprised that the chief of police used the word "laboratory" that he put it in this book. He does this A LOT in the book. It's so patronizing. Despite spending years in Tijuana with the people there he's constantly being shocked that he underestimated the intelligence of the people there and that his suggestions and ideas don't work with the culture of the city, despite people telling him so for years. He never trusts what any Mexican person tells him about what is happening in Tijuana... unless they confirm his epidemic theory, in which case whatever they say is gold.
Towards the end of the book, Werb attempts to prove that his theory has a direct positive impact on the community in Tijuana. However, most of the positive actions to solve the crisis that he cites took place almost a decade before he ever arrived in Tijuana and formulated his theory. I get the sense that this book is an amalgamation of two things: the book Werb wanted to write (about individual stories of the women in Tijuana he interviewed and an explanation of how the city got to its current state) and the book he felt he had to write (which was comparing to what was going on in the city as an epidemic). I don't think his heart was in the latter bits, and it shows.
While I learned a lot from this book, in the end I think that its premise didn't work. He didn't need to look at the problem using epidemiology. He was able to explain almost every issue faced by people in Tijuana using social science, rather than regular science. Harping on the epidemic theory simply served as a distraction from the parts that mattered and had meaning.
March 25, 2019
The most famous and successful epidemiologist was John Snow. He singlehandedly stopped a cholera epidemic in London 150 years ago. He tediously marked all the unexplained deaths on a map, showing how they intensified geographically toward a central point. Visiting that spot, Snow found a public water pump. By breaking off the handle, he stopped the epidemic right then and there. Things are not usually that clear cut. In City of Omens, Dan Werb applies Snow’s and all the modern tools available to solve a current plague in Tijuana. Women are turning up dead. It is so disproportionately high he calls it femicide.
Epidemiology is detective work. It can show where our conclusions ad assumptions are wrong. Werb gives some great examples. Doctors had always thought that drug addicts were psychopaths, and assumed so when an addict showed up. That stopped when studies began to show that doctors were most liable to become addicts (as many as 50%) themselves. Similarly, American troops in Viet Nam had a heroin habit among 30% of them. Considering these situations as epidemics rather than psychiatric problems has changed the way we approach them. We’ve also discovered that bad neighborhoods don’t create addicts. Addicts drift towards them as they both decline, making both worse. The UN describes an epidemic as when a condition affects more than 10 people per hundred thousand. An epidemic becomes endemic when it is a regular occurrence, like flu in winter. The bulk of the book is about death rates in Tijuana, where murders had been closer to 40 than ten.
In the case of Tijuana, the inputs were numerous and well known: prostitution, drugs, HIV, shared syringes, corrupt police, drug cartels, violent drunks. Werb describes Tijuana as chaotic, with all of these factors applying to daily life. The pathogens were not airborne or waterborne microbes. They were corrupt people. They all involved the rapid spread of HIV, and together left a trail of bodies, literally on the streets of the city. Narcos attached notes to decapitated bodies saying let this be a lesson. Eventually, on top of everything else, there was gang war for control of the drug business. Narcotics money bought off everyone worth buying, keeping the violence levels elevated.
There is an endless supply of women streaming to Tijuana. They are attracted to the maquiladoras, the free trade zone factories that employ 200,000. The steady work turns out to be more like slave labor, and worn out women quit, going into sex work to survive. Sex work inevitably means poverty, drugs and shared needles, so disease spreads fast.
Epidemiology has another interesting aspect – it can be counterintuitive more often than not. Werb has to keep saying he was wrong. In the case of Tijuana, Werb found that increased methadone use led to decreased heroin use, which meant less spreading of HIV. Methadone costs more than heroin. The methadone use was correlated with higher bribes to police. Those who gave more to the police had better survival rates. This is not intuitive, and Werb had to figure out that people on methadone had to make more money than those on heroin, so they became bigger targets for police extortion. Overlaying the database of police beatings on maps showed clusters around the methadone centers, which turns out to be why more people did not enter the programs. This was an unexpected reason for its limited success. Nothing is simple.
Two tectonic shifts accelerated the disaster in Tijuana, Werb says. The HIV scare in the 80s caused the US Navy to send 800,000 condoms to Tijuana, because the Navy “appreciates” sex work all over the world. But the rapid increase in HIV among sailors made the Navy eventually and suddenly forbid all leave in Tijuana. San Diego County has more than 50 military bases with over 100,000 sailors, so this was big for Tijuana. Then 9/11 caused uncontrollable fear in the USA. George Bush responded with a wall 580 miles long to seal off Tijuana for some reason. Even legal border crossings fell. They dropped from their record 110 million to 71 million a year. Business in Tijuana plummeted. Sexworkers took to dealing drugs, and murders of women soared from less than ten to over 40 per hundred thousand, making it a certified epidemic.
The small irony of City of Omens is that in order to decide the global effects and origins of an epidemic, the epidemiologist spends all his/her efforts on the minutest of details. From repeatedly interviewing survivors, to examining the unique aspects of the streets, buildings, neighborhoods and environs, it is all very fine-grained. There is a lot of legwork involved. It is akin to ethnography. The biggest challenge seems to be seeing the forest while among the trees. So the book is massively descriptive, far more than one would expect from a book on epidemics. City of Omens does show the potential value of epidemiology. Unfortunately, Tijuana is not a success story. In 2018, 2300 were killed there, a rate of 135/100,000. Money talks.
David Wineberg
Epidemiology is detective work. It can show where our conclusions ad assumptions are wrong. Werb gives some great examples. Doctors had always thought that drug addicts were psychopaths, and assumed so when an addict showed up. That stopped when studies began to show that doctors were most liable to become addicts (as many as 50%) themselves. Similarly, American troops in Viet Nam had a heroin habit among 30% of them. Considering these situations as epidemics rather than psychiatric problems has changed the way we approach them. We’ve also discovered that bad neighborhoods don’t create addicts. Addicts drift towards them as they both decline, making both worse. The UN describes an epidemic as when a condition affects more than 10 people per hundred thousand. An epidemic becomes endemic when it is a regular occurrence, like flu in winter. The bulk of the book is about death rates in Tijuana, where murders had been closer to 40 than ten.
In the case of Tijuana, the inputs were numerous and well known: prostitution, drugs, HIV, shared syringes, corrupt police, drug cartels, violent drunks. Werb describes Tijuana as chaotic, with all of these factors applying to daily life. The pathogens were not airborne or waterborne microbes. They were corrupt people. They all involved the rapid spread of HIV, and together left a trail of bodies, literally on the streets of the city. Narcos attached notes to decapitated bodies saying let this be a lesson. Eventually, on top of everything else, there was gang war for control of the drug business. Narcotics money bought off everyone worth buying, keeping the violence levels elevated.
There is an endless supply of women streaming to Tijuana. They are attracted to the maquiladoras, the free trade zone factories that employ 200,000. The steady work turns out to be more like slave labor, and worn out women quit, going into sex work to survive. Sex work inevitably means poverty, drugs and shared needles, so disease spreads fast.
Epidemiology has another interesting aspect – it can be counterintuitive more often than not. Werb has to keep saying he was wrong. In the case of Tijuana, Werb found that increased methadone use led to decreased heroin use, which meant less spreading of HIV. Methadone costs more than heroin. The methadone use was correlated with higher bribes to police. Those who gave more to the police had better survival rates. This is not intuitive, and Werb had to figure out that people on methadone had to make more money than those on heroin, so they became bigger targets for police extortion. Overlaying the database of police beatings on maps showed clusters around the methadone centers, which turns out to be why more people did not enter the programs. This was an unexpected reason for its limited success. Nothing is simple.
Two tectonic shifts accelerated the disaster in Tijuana, Werb says. The HIV scare in the 80s caused the US Navy to send 800,000 condoms to Tijuana, because the Navy “appreciates” sex work all over the world. But the rapid increase in HIV among sailors made the Navy eventually and suddenly forbid all leave in Tijuana. San Diego County has more than 50 military bases with over 100,000 sailors, so this was big for Tijuana. Then 9/11 caused uncontrollable fear in the USA. George Bush responded with a wall 580 miles long to seal off Tijuana for some reason. Even legal border crossings fell. They dropped from their record 110 million to 71 million a year. Business in Tijuana plummeted. Sexworkers took to dealing drugs, and murders of women soared from less than ten to over 40 per hundred thousand, making it a certified epidemic.
The small irony of City of Omens is that in order to decide the global effects and origins of an epidemic, the epidemiologist spends all his/her efforts on the minutest of details. From repeatedly interviewing survivors, to examining the unique aspects of the streets, buildings, neighborhoods and environs, it is all very fine-grained. There is a lot of legwork involved. It is akin to ethnography. The biggest challenge seems to be seeing the forest while among the trees. So the book is massively descriptive, far more than one would expect from a book on epidemics. City of Omens does show the potential value of epidemiology. Unfortunately, Tijuana is not a success story. In 2018, 2300 were killed there, a rate of 135/100,000. Money talks.
David Wineberg
August 4, 2019
I wanted to like this book so much. Given today's political climate, I was interested in reading a nonfiction book about "missing" women at the borderlands. I thought it would give me an important perspective on immigration, poverty, and the border from women's points of view.
Instead, the book was a dry, clinical telling of an epidemiologist's study of sex workers and HIV. While I recognize that there is probably a place for that story, it was not what I had expected in this book. I ended up skimming large sections because they were full of scientific details about epidemiology and Dr. Werb's own studies. Perhaps because of that, I felt the book was disjointed and written without a clear narrative. In fact, I'm still not sure why the book was subtitled "a search for the missing women of the borderlands." The women didn't seem to be missing as much as simply on the margins of society.
When Dr. Werb did describe the women he met, he failed to weave a compelling narrative about their lives. I didn't feel like I got to know them, recognizing them only as members of this study. Likewise, despite his best efforts, Dr. Werb's writing didn't help me picture Tijuana. I never truly got a sense of the place or the people in it. This may be an inherent issue with a book about the women of Tijuana, written by an educated white man from Canada who doesn't speak Spanish.
And, at the end of the book, I have to admit that I'm not sure what I was supposed to take away from it. Who were the "missing" women? What was the epidemic? Where do we go from here?
I'm sure this book has its place, particularly among scientists and epidemiologists who find this information fascinating. I would not, however, recommend it for the casual reader who is interested in knowing more about the lives of women at the border.
Instead, the book was a dry, clinical telling of an epidemiologist's study of sex workers and HIV. While I recognize that there is probably a place for that story, it was not what I had expected in this book. I ended up skimming large sections because they were full of scientific details about epidemiology and Dr. Werb's own studies. Perhaps because of that, I felt the book was disjointed and written without a clear narrative. In fact, I'm still not sure why the book was subtitled "a search for the missing women of the borderlands." The women didn't seem to be missing as much as simply on the margins of society.
When Dr. Werb did describe the women he met, he failed to weave a compelling narrative about their lives. I didn't feel like I got to know them, recognizing them only as members of this study. Likewise, despite his best efforts, Dr. Werb's writing didn't help me picture Tijuana. I never truly got a sense of the place or the people in it. This may be an inherent issue with a book about the women of Tijuana, written by an educated white man from Canada who doesn't speak Spanish.
And, at the end of the book, I have to admit that I'm not sure what I was supposed to take away from it. Who were the "missing" women? What was the epidemic? Where do we go from here?
I'm sure this book has its place, particularly among scientists and epidemiologists who find this information fascinating. I would not, however, recommend it for the casual reader who is interested in knowing more about the lives of women at the border.
June 20, 2019
I purchased this book from @bookofthemonth to read. All opinions are my own. 🌟🌟🌟🌟 City of Omens by Dan Werb. This fact filled book begins with epidemiologist Dan Werb studying drug addiction and the spread of HIV in Tijuana but he quickly learns with the right questions asked he can find answers to a larger puzzle. Missing women, a lot of missing women. Drug overdoses, HIV transmission, environmental toxins killing women at an increasing rate. He is trained to track facts and sort data that leads to the deaths of the most vulnerable inhabitants from multiple cultures and walks of life. This research casts a new light on border policy, addiction, and human trafficking. This book does read like a documentary though and that's where the story slows. However, it must be written that way to include all the data and facts and stories that lie within its pages. Review also posted on Instagram @borenbooks, Library Thing, Amazon, Twitter @jason_stacie, Goodreads/StacieBoren and my blog at readsbystacie.com
August 12, 2025
If you're going to market your book as true crime, the one question everyone involved should be asking is: am I doing this ethically? Am I doing it with respect to the people I am working with, whose stories I am telling, who I am claiming to help? For Werb, for the editors that this got past, for the publishers who thought this was a smart idea, that answer is a resounding no.
Two lines into the book, he lets out the sentence, "I had worn 'slum-appropriate' clothing", and reader, it goes downhill from there.
He exhibits very little understanding of Spanish grammar, especially the fluidity and shifting nuances of border Spanglish, which changes from city to city, state to state. The Spanglish of Tijuana is not the Spanglish of Nogales is not the Spanglish of Juárez, but I wouldn't put it past Werb to not even realize the words he's using are colloquial, recent developments.
There are plenty of authors - I'm thinking of a few authors who focus on the border, specifically - who can skillfully weave narrative and analysis. Werb is not one of them. Is this supposed to be a work on the human cost of an epidemic, or a scientific post-doc project under budget and time constraints? I don't know, and I got the sense that Werb didn't, either. There were multiple points early on in the first chapter where he switches from a third-person narration of a woman he's working with to analyses of statistical intervals, and I, as a person trained in statistics, actually put the book down and muttered, "what in the good goddamn hell are you talking about."
Where an empathetic human being would see a social crisis to be resolved through communal, political, and economic initiatives, Werb saw a goddamn research study. This man looked at Tijuana, in all of its decades-long complexity, like a man looking through an animal's cage at a zoo. He admits that this was his "next move", a project that he could take up and put down at his convenience. The people that he writes about cannot do that, and the fact that he remained blind to that privilege is glaringly obvious to the point of fury.
While all of what I've already mentioned was enough to be insulting, as a social historian, my last point drives home how nauseatingly white-savior this entire "project" is: Werb's analysis of the cartel operations, the formation of their international trade networks, and the buildup that was the 7-decade PRI rule are FAR too simplistic and one-sided to where they've become completely ahistorical and revisionist. We made it 30 pages into the book before he even mentions the United States - like pulling teeth to get him to even allude to the U.S.'s interventions, CIA involvement, ONE sentence on Camarena, ONE mention of Ronald Reagan?? In the buildup to the official launch of the War on Drugs, how the hell do you just ONCE mention Ronald Reagan? Why is the rise of the cartels and international trafficking only Mexico's fault, and only since 2006? We know why, and I'll let you sit with that.
A Search for the Missing Women of the Borderlands could mean anything. As a social historian who focuses on migration, I picked this up thinking it would be an addition to the field of, perhaps, migration archaeology, desert forensics, or a real social analysis of femicide in border cities that disproportionately targets indigenous and CentAm women. It was none of those things. It was a white man, socially and economically removed from his "subjects", looking through the lens of a comfortable Canadian selfishly seeking some kind of thrill because he was (I inferred from the reading) bored with whatever he was working on and needed some new thrill.
Save it, pendejo.
Two lines into the book, he lets out the sentence, "I had worn 'slum-appropriate' clothing", and reader, it goes downhill from there.
He exhibits very little understanding of Spanish grammar, especially the fluidity and shifting nuances of border Spanglish, which changes from city to city, state to state. The Spanglish of Tijuana is not the Spanglish of Nogales is not the Spanglish of Juárez, but I wouldn't put it past Werb to not even realize the words he's using are colloquial, recent developments.
There are plenty of authors - I'm thinking of a few authors who focus on the border, specifically - who can skillfully weave narrative and analysis. Werb is not one of them. Is this supposed to be a work on the human cost of an epidemic, or a scientific post-doc project under budget and time constraints? I don't know, and I got the sense that Werb didn't, either. There were multiple points early on in the first chapter where he switches from a third-person narration of a woman he's working with to analyses of statistical intervals, and I, as a person trained in statistics, actually put the book down and muttered, "what in the good goddamn hell are you talking about."
Where an empathetic human being would see a social crisis to be resolved through communal, political, and economic initiatives, Werb saw a goddamn research study. This man looked at Tijuana, in all of its decades-long complexity, like a man looking through an animal's cage at a zoo. He admits that this was his "next move", a project that he could take up and put down at his convenience. The people that he writes about cannot do that, and the fact that he remained blind to that privilege is glaringly obvious to the point of fury.
While all of what I've already mentioned was enough to be insulting, as a social historian, my last point drives home how nauseatingly white-savior this entire "project" is: Werb's analysis of the cartel operations, the formation of their international trade networks, and the buildup that was the 7-decade PRI rule are FAR too simplistic and one-sided to where they've become completely ahistorical and revisionist. We made it 30 pages into the book before he even mentions the United States - like pulling teeth to get him to even allude to the U.S.'s interventions, CIA involvement, ONE sentence on Camarena, ONE mention of Ronald Reagan?? In the buildup to the official launch of the War on Drugs, how the hell do you just ONCE mention Ronald Reagan? Why is the rise of the cartels and international trafficking only Mexico's fault, and only since 2006? We know why, and I'll let you sit with that.
A Search for the Missing Women of the Borderlands could mean anything. As a social historian who focuses on migration, I picked this up thinking it would be an addition to the field of, perhaps, migration archaeology, desert forensics, or a real social analysis of femicide in border cities that disproportionately targets indigenous and CentAm women. It was none of those things. It was a white man, socially and economically removed from his "subjects", looking through the lens of a comfortable Canadian selfishly seeking some kind of thrill because he was (I inferred from the reading) bored with whatever he was working on and needed some new thrill.
Save it, pendejo.
November 12, 2019
An evocative, provocative portrait of vulnerable populations in Tijuana as the young epidemiologist author shines a light on the complex variables bearing upon them - highly recommended!
June 17, 2019
This was too scientific and complex for me. I thought it would be more about the murders. I didn’t finish the book but I’m hoping the book signing is more interesting.
January 16, 2020
This is an excellent book for people interested in addiction, harm reduction and substance abuse, and gives a very clear explanation of the basics of epidemiology. It outlines the drug issues in Tijuana, created by a combination of the cartels, police and government corruption, poverty, HIV, the desperation of poor women, and American immigration policy. It is well-written, with compassion and skill, by an author who is an academic but also works with the marginalized on the streets of Tijuana. This is a must read.
August 21, 2019
Is this book important? Absolutely. Is this book relevant and timely? For sure. Is the negative impact of the US and its policies on this border town desperate to survive clearly mapped, sensitively discussed and unfathomably tragic? Without a doubt.
Unfortunately, as someone with a background in public health, I found this book to be a little too journalistic and narrative and not nearly as clear with the data as I would have liked. The combination of this writing style and the focus on two or three "archetypical" subjects (including one 'expert patient', who is herself employed by the research group Werb works with and therefore arguably a less reliable sample) just made the underlying epidemiological model feel a bit flimsy/ underdeveloped.
That said, this book has sparked my interest, and I will immediately utilize his very helpful bibliography to further research El Cuete, borderland health, and the inspiring women who live with the multi-tiered challenges Tijuana presents. I will also read his peer-approved work, which undoubtedly will address the data gaps I had with this book.
Unfortunately, as someone with a background in public health, I found this book to be a little too journalistic and narrative and not nearly as clear with the data as I would have liked. The combination of this writing style and the focus on two or three "archetypical" subjects (including one 'expert patient', who is herself employed by the research group Werb works with and therefore arguably a less reliable sample) just made the underlying epidemiological model feel a bit flimsy/ underdeveloped.
That said, this book has sparked my interest, and I will immediately utilize his very helpful bibliography to further research El Cuete, borderland health, and the inspiring women who live with the multi-tiered challenges Tijuana presents. I will also read his peer-approved work, which undoubtedly will address the data gaps I had with this book.
December 26, 2020
This book has so much to teach policy makers about what becomes of most people in a corrupt society where laws mean nothing, protect no one who is not wealthy and powerful. Reading about what Tijuanenses suffer sickened me. Dan Werb does an excellent job of outlining the social web of injustice: the corporate tendency to treat workers as replaceable cogs, subsequent sex work or drug dealing when there is no other way to make a living, resultant drug addiction, resultant HIV infection, the overall corruption of the police and city government by powerful cartels, the murderous fallout left by sociopaths in control of just about everything; and how all that adds up to such appalling levels of femicide. Tijuana is not unlike many cities and countries south of our border and our own polices (NAFTA, the drug war -- both so profitable for a few and destructive to many) have helped turn that city into a hell on earth. Americans who don't understand how migrating Latin Americans deserve to be treated as refugees should read this book, and others, about what goes on down there and the truly reprehensible part our policies play in ruining these societies.
April 4, 2023
This is a social science nonfiction book that focuses specifically on the epidemiology of femicide in Tijuana. Werb is an epidemiologist particularly focused on HIV, a preventable disease spreading at alarming rates in this city due to unsafe drug use and sex work; he investigates how factors like cartel violence, police corruption, and international border tensions heighten the dangers women face while living in Tijuana, forcing them into vulnerable situations where they engage in risky behaviors primarily because they feel there are no better options available to them. It’s a bleak examination of difficult subject matter with multi-faceted, moving pieces. Of course a group of research-based scientists are limited in the level of help they can give to women victimized by such huge obstacles as drug wars, exploitative corporations, and corrupt police, but Werb presents clear scientific and statistical evidence in support of aid that has already been offered to women in Tijuana and solutions toward health and safety that have worked to combat HIV in other cities, such as safe injection sites.
It’s an important read in itself, and I think particularly for readers in the US with a limited knowledge on the history of our southern border. Tijuana is a city with a huge influx of migrants who come for the plentiful factory jobs and/or to seek refuge on hopeful paths toward less violent futures, and the city itself is a sort of sister to California’s San Diego; the United States directly affects and is directly affected by what happens in Tijuana. HIV will continue to spread through entirely legal border crossings and consumerism, largely supported by American tourism and spending habits.
And yet, for all its clear import, City of Omens also has a tendency toward impenetrability for the layperson. While there are a few narrative anecdotes and some rich snippets of history woven in, this is clearly a book written by a scientist with the assumption that readers are as interested in epidemiology itself as in the femicide being traced in this particular instance. Which is a fair assumption, I’m sure there is an audience looking to learn more about epidemiology as a study, but it does make this a denser, drier, and more difficult read for those drawn in primarily by the social implications (like me). Furthermore, the book doesn’t really offer any suggestions for what the reader (or the women at risk!) might do to combat any of the problems highlighted here; using clean needles for drug injections and using condoms when involved in sex work are key tenets of safety against HIV, but there are massive policy, leadership, and lifestyle changes necessary in Tijuana and larger Mexico in order to make safety a realistic goal for those who need it most.
Last but not least, I think the book’s header is also a bit misleading: The Search for the Missing Women of the Borderlands gives the impression that women will be found, that perhaps there’s a true crime element to this work, but in reality Werb is only searching for the reasons that there are missing women; this book looks for risk factors, not women. By the end of the work, (through no fault of his own) Werb cannot even say with certainty where his own contacts from the study have gone, much less the many unaccounted for people who have slipped entirely through the cracks.
“The purpose of supervised injection sites is simple: get people who inject drugs on the street to do so indoors, under medical supervision, so that they don’t acquire HIV and don’t die of an overdose. In that, they have proven to be spectacularly successful. While overdose deaths have reached epidemic proportions across North America, not a single person has died after overdosing in any of the approximately 120 sites that exist in Canada and around the world."
For information alone, this would have been a 5 star read, but unfortunately I found it a slog to get through despite finding the topics worthwhile. Though I normally like going into books without much knowledge of what to expect, I think having correct expectations for this one might be the key to a positive reading experience. I do hope more people will pick up this book, but I know I’ll have a hard time finding just the right person to recommend it to.
It’s an important read in itself, and I think particularly for readers in the US with a limited knowledge on the history of our southern border. Tijuana is a city with a huge influx of migrants who come for the plentiful factory jobs and/or to seek refuge on hopeful paths toward less violent futures, and the city itself is a sort of sister to California’s San Diego; the United States directly affects and is directly affected by what happens in Tijuana. HIV will continue to spread through entirely legal border crossings and consumerism, largely supported by American tourism and spending habits.
And yet, for all its clear import, City of Omens also has a tendency toward impenetrability for the layperson. While there are a few narrative anecdotes and some rich snippets of history woven in, this is clearly a book written by a scientist with the assumption that readers are as interested in epidemiology itself as in the femicide being traced in this particular instance. Which is a fair assumption, I’m sure there is an audience looking to learn more about epidemiology as a study, but it does make this a denser, drier, and more difficult read for those drawn in primarily by the social implications (like me). Furthermore, the book doesn’t really offer any suggestions for what the reader (or the women at risk!) might do to combat any of the problems highlighted here; using clean needles for drug injections and using condoms when involved in sex work are key tenets of safety against HIV, but there are massive policy, leadership, and lifestyle changes necessary in Tijuana and larger Mexico in order to make safety a realistic goal for those who need it most.
Last but not least, I think the book’s header is also a bit misleading: The Search for the Missing Women of the Borderlands gives the impression that women will be found, that perhaps there’s a true crime element to this work, but in reality Werb is only searching for the reasons that there are missing women; this book looks for risk factors, not women. By the end of the work, (through no fault of his own) Werb cannot even say with certainty where his own contacts from the study have gone, much less the many unaccounted for people who have slipped entirely through the cracks.
“The purpose of supervised injection sites is simple: get people who inject drugs on the street to do so indoors, under medical supervision, so that they don’t acquire HIV and don’t die of an overdose. In that, they have proven to be spectacularly successful. While overdose deaths have reached epidemic proportions across North America, not a single person has died after overdosing in any of the approximately 120 sites that exist in Canada and around the world."
For information alone, this would have been a 5 star read, but unfortunately I found it a slog to get through despite finding the topics worthwhile. Though I normally like going into books without much knowledge of what to expect, I think having correct expectations for this one might be the key to a positive reading experience. I do hope more people will pick up this book, but I know I’ll have a hard time finding just the right person to recommend it to.
September 26, 2020
My doctoral dissertation was in the field of medical geography which often overlaps with epidemiology. In this book, Dan Werb conducts research in the city with the highest murder rate in the world, Tijuana, Mexico, and the vast majority of those killed are women. Dan Werb is an epidemiologist and he uses an epidemiological model to try understand why so many people were dying in this "epidemic of femicide" in this border city. I liked that he not only explained the epidemiological model well, but also allowed us to understand many of the women who were involved with drug use or the sex trade and the risks they experienced in their lives. Werb helps us understand the local causes as well as the Mexican and multi-national causes of the epidemic. In the end, no easy answers come forward, but it is a fascinating study.
September 23, 2019
This is a very informative book. It gives one a deep insight into the conditions in Tijuana - the drugs, the corruption, the violence, the HIV epidemic and the femicide taking place. It sadly doesn't give as much definitive information, though I'm not sure any book could, and the title is not misleading, it is an ongoing search. It does teach one an awful lot about how epidemiologists do their work and the steps one needs to take in making a statistical model. I think the book ultimately reflects the Tijuana and the border region itself, amorphous, without real direction and with a lot of horrible conditions to be observed. Which is why I don't regret reading it in the least, I learned a lot, but can't say I know everything I went in wanting to know, like Tijuana itself.
August 16, 2019
If your a Epidemiologist this the book for you. If your a causal reader with no Epidemology in your background or interest then I would not waste your time with this book. Besides the title being very miss leading to the topic I was hoping for, the book is very complex and has no true story other than studies and science. I will admit some information was very interesting but overall I found no meaning in the book other than facts. I was hoping to get more meaning from the women in TJ but i got nothing. This my input in the book Dr. Werb's studies are great and all but not my cup of tea.
June 16, 2021
What a fascinating story. Dan Web examines Tijuana’s murder as they skyrocketed and produced a staggering number of female victims.
This is a very compelling and well researched story that captivates you from the beginning. Great job!
This is a very compelling and well researched story that captivates you from the beginning. Great job!
August 16, 2019
Very interesting piece in how American policies affect The most vulnerable Mexican populations. But a bit of a plodding read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 29, 2019
This is not my usual read but it was fascinating.
What is happening in Tijuana is awful.
Sex, drugs, police corruption and human trafficking.
What is happening in Tijuana is awful.
Sex, drugs, police corruption and human trafficking.
September 15, 2019
I'll be fine if I don't hear the words Epidemiology or Epidemiologist for a very long time.
October 1, 2019
Interesting topic- boring presentation.
February 28, 2025
No one expects tragedies to be so recent. Good eye opening book.
July 12, 2024
Though banal, it’s true that there are a lot of massive, seemingly unsolvable problems in western society. One of these—drugs—was approached as the War on Drugs. The direct approach has been a disaster by all accounts. Shooting the problem, as it were, only makes other problems instead of getting at its root. But where do we put our efforts? Where do we aim? Scientists like Dan Werb, epidemiologist and author of City of Omens, look for that spot by taking several steps back. Instead of looking at the outcomes, they look for the chain of causes that led to the outcomes. In this case, the problem is rampant drug addiction, the unchecked spread of HIV, and the deaths of thousands of women in the city of Tijuana, Mexico. The causes of these outcomes are complicated and surprising…but not as unsolvable as we might have thought...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
February 23, 2021
Too dry for me to really enjoy.
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