Imagine a remote, nearly forgotten village in the south of Mexico ruled by an eccentric cast of characters. Imagine the slow incursion of narcos and a community turned desperate. Imagine a flight to El Norte in an effort to recruit a modern day version of The Magnificent Seven. And imagine asking them to return to their native land to do battle against the modern flavor of evil. And imagine all of this wrapped in humor. If yon can’t visualize this, no matter, because Luis Alberto Urrea has provided just this very thing in his “Into the Beautiful North.”
It helps if you love Mexico and the Mexican people.
Not only will you get the joke but you will also begin to understand how Mexico actually is. Fiction? Yes. Humor? Yes. But laced with reality in a loving way. There were certain characters I absolutely loved, including a dump-dwelling super hero. I kept thinking “This would make a great film,” if they could keep it from being too campy. Get it, read it.