The arbitrary 2,000-mile line separating the United States from Mexico runs through the middle of a distinct border culture that's routinely misunderstood and mischaracterized by mainstream America. Puro Border, recently published by the excellent Cinco Puntos Press, based in El Paso, is designed to help remedy that ignorance. The book includes essays by such respected writers as Charles Bowden, Luis Alberto Urrea and Leslie Marmon Silko from the north side of the border and Juan Villoro, Julian Herbert and Roberto Castillo Udiarte from the south side. Collecting together some of the best writings from both sides of the Tortilla Curtain, this eclectic book should help illuminate some of the mysteries of la frontera.
