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THE BEAST: RIDING THE RAILS AND DODGING NARCOS ON THE MIGRANT TRAIL Oscar Martinez ----------------------------------- AVAILABLE NOW - http://www.versobooks.com/books/1496-the-beast ----------------------------------- “The world that Oscar Martinez, a Salvadoran journalist, set out to report on five years ago is so violent, depraved and hellish, you can hardly believe he survived to tell the tale... rugged prose, beautifully translated.” – THE ECONOMIST “To understand the dramatic realities faced by the migrants who flee northwards to find work in the United States, Oscar Martinez literally jumped trains and dodged killers. He deserves praise not only for his efforts, and for what he writes about, but because he writes so very well.” - Jon Lee Anderson, staff reporter for the NEW YORKER ----------------------------------- Searing true stories from two years of immersion reporting on the migrant trail from Chiapas to Arizona. One day a few years ago, 300 migrants were kidnapped between the remote desert towns of Altar, Mexico, and Sasabe, Arizona. A local priest got 120 released, many with broken ankles and other marks of abuse, but the rest vanished. Oscar Martinez, a young writer from El Salvador, was in Altar soon after the abduction, and his account of the migrant disappearances is only one of the harrowing stories he garnered from two years spent traveling up and down the migrant trail from Central America and across the US border. More than a quarter of a million Central Americans make this increasingly dangerous journey each year, and each year as many as 20,000 of them are kidnapped. Martinez writes in powerful, unforgettable prose about clinging to the tops of freight trains; finding respite, work and hardship in shelters and brothels; and riding shotgun with the border patrol. Illustrated with stunning full-color photographs, The Beast is the first book to shed light on the harsh new reality of the migrant trail in the age of the narcotraficantes. ----------------------------------- “A heartbreaking book about the world's most invisible people. A revelatory work of love and hair-raising courage.” – Alma Guillermoprieto, Latin America correspondent for the NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS, author of DANCING WITH CUBA “Oscar Martinez is a journalist of uncommon bravery and a writer of prodigious talent. THE BEAST is a powerful, necessary book, one of the finest pieces of journalism to emerge from Latin America in years.” – Daniel Alarcon, author of AT NIGHT WE WALK IN CIRCLES “Martinez's writing is eloquent, gritty, and incisive, embedded in vividly observed detail ...” – NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS “Oscar Martinez is one of the bravest writers in Latin America, if not the world. He's also one of the best... he has crafted a portrait of the hellish conditions and dangers for those dreaming of a better life. For such devastating subject matter, it's a fluent, humane, readable book, and one of the most capital-I important, capital-I inspiring released this year... an essential piece of writing about some of the hardest and most hopeful young people on earth” – Charlie Robin Jones, DAZED & CONFUSED “This searing account of the hardships suffered by Central American migrants headed through Mexico to the United States comes from true shoe-leather reporting.” – PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY “… Martinez’s debut is the hard-won result of immersive journalism.” – KIRKUS REVIEWS “The statistics are terrifying. Amnesty International recently estimated that as many as 70,000 undocumented migrants went missing in Mexico between 2006 and 2012. An estimated 80 per cent of migrant women are raped on the journey. Martinez – who faces untold dangers as a reporter – gets beyond these numbers with skill and subtlety. He tells the stories of individuals with names, ages, faces, families, for whom migration is a matter of life and death.” – INDEPENDENT ----------------------------------- Oscar Martinez writes for ElFaro.net, the first online newspaper in Latin America. He is currently writing chronicles and articles for El Faro’s project, Sala Negra, investigating gang violence in Latin America. In 2008, Martínez won the Fernando Benitez National Journalism Prize in Mexico, and in 2009, he was awarded the Human Rights Prize at the Jose Simeon Canas Central American University in El Salvador. ----------------------------------- Hardback / ISBN: 9781781681329 / $26.95 / £14.99 / $31.00CAN / 224 pages For more information on THE BEAST: RIDING THE RAILS AND DODGING NARCOS ON THE MIGRANT TRAIL or to buy the book visit: http://www.versobooks.com/books/1496-the-beast ----------------------------------- Visit Verso’s website for information on our upcoming events, new reviews and publications and special offers: http://www.versobooks.com<https://red002.mail.emea.microsoftonline.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=da4b27451a1c45a893588ecb9e6f48f3&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.versobooks.com> Sign up for the Verso mailing list: https://www.versobooks.com/users/sign_up Become a fan of Verso on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/VersoBks And get updates on Twitter too! http://twitter.com/VersoBooks<https://red002.mail.emea.microsoftonline.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=da4b27451a1c45a893588ecb9e6f48f3&URL=http%3a%2f%2ftwitter.com%2fVersoBooks>