Diary of an Undocumented Immigrant [Paperback]

Ramon T. Perez (Author), Dick J. Reavis (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1991

This highly literate and engrossing autobiographical account of survival as a "wetback" or "mojado", to use the author's own words, affords the reader an unexpurgated look at the United States, its economy and culture from the perspective of the so often maligned and misunderstood immigrant: the undocumented worker.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Perez, an undocumented worker from a small town in Oaxaca, depicts his life over a period of several years in the States in the mid-1980s, ending with his return to Mexico after the passage of the Simpson-Rodino immigration law. When he tells of crossing the border under the watchful eye of the guides who take illegals into the U.S., the book resembles a Jim Thompson thriller--a nicely observed narrative recounted in a flat, amoral tone, casually littered with atmospheric detail from the seamy underside. Once Perez arrives in the States, the book is uneven, veering in tone between the blue-collar rhythms of Richard Price and tedious nostalgia for Perez's village. The biggest drawbacks, however, are the fault of the publisher. First, there is no supporting material to put Perez's experience into a historical context, in spite of references to a 1950s program allowing part-time Mexican agricultural workers in the U.S. The more glaring flaw is a translation that swings wildly between a Hollywood idea of how peasants speak, bad pseudo-poetry ("Parts of the dump are like lakes of sour water on which an infinitude of trash is floating") and mistranslated idioms.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"... a remarkably honest first-person account..." -- The Texas Observer

"Perez tells an emotionally heavy story with clear, detailed narration and a light sense of humor." -- The Houston Chronicle

Diary "is a truly credible, and sometimes incredible, document." -- Dallas Morning News

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Arte Publico Press (January 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558850325
• ISBN-13: 978-1558850323
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #921,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Telling it like it is, August 25, 2000

By 

Marie Duggan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diary of an Undocumented Immigrant (Paperback)

I read this book years ago, and it is one of those books that stayed in my head. Tinguis Perez writes in simple, direct prose about some harsh situations in the US, the types of situations undocumented immigrants encounter routinely but that few US citizens will encounter at all in the ordinary routine of life. He understates everything, never sensationalizes, and the result is extraordinarily powerful and human.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Translator's review, July 15, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diary of an Undocumented Immigrant (Paperback)

Libraries are now full of statistical and sociological reports on undocumented or illegal Mexican immigrants in the U.S. This book presents what I believe in the only account in print from the personal experience of one such immigrant. It tells of his crossing the border, his apprehension by the Border Patrol, of a subsequent successful entry, and of the more than two years that Mr. Perez spent in Texas, California and Washington, living with others in his status, trying to catch the American Dream.