Into the Beautiful North: A Novel (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nayeli, the Taqueria worker of Urrea's fine new novel (after The Hummingbird's Daughter), is a young woman in the poor but tight-knit coastal Mexican town of Tres Camarones who spends her days serving tacos and helping her feisty aunt Irma get elected as the town's first female mayor. Abandoned by her father who headed north for work years before, Nayeli is hit with the realization that her hometown is all but abandoned by men, leaving it at the mercy of drug gangsters. So Nayeli hatches an elaborate scheme inspired by The Magnificent Seven: with three friends, she heads north to find seven Mexican men and smuggle them back into Mexico to protect the town. What she discovers along the way, of course, surprises her. Urrea's poetic sensibility and journalistic eye for detail in painting the Mexican landscape and sociological complexities create vivid, memorable scenes. Though the Spanglish can be tough for the uninitiated to detangle, the colorful characters, strong narrative and humor carry this surprisingly uplifting and very human story. (May)
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Review

PRAISE FOR INTO THE BEAUTIFUL NORTH:

"[Into the Beautiful North] is deliciously composed...[Urrea writes] in a sweet but serious style...You find it in the dialogue...You find it in the description of the countryside... the plot gathers as much strength as the prose.."
(Chicago Tribune Alan Cheuse )<br /><br />"Awash in a subtle kind of satire...Aa funny and poignant impossible journey...Into the Beautiful North is a refreshing antidote to all the negativity currently surrounding Mexico."
(Dallas Morning News Roberto Ontiveros )<br /><br />"No great adventure is told without great characters, and Urrea certainly knows how to create them...that Urrea has turned a usually disturbing subject into a book that keeps a smile on your face is a tribute to his storytelling." (Miami Herald )<br /><br />"[A] wondrous yarn in the hands of a terrific storyteller...Urrea's meticulous detail makes the story come to life...Not to trivialize, but these characters cry out for a sequel-maybe a telenovela? --Various

[Audio Review] You can almost hear the opening theme to the classic American Western THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, the movie that inspires the lovely 19-year-old Nayeli to gather together a ragtag group of friends and set out on a mission. Their goal is to cross the Mexican border into the U.S. and recruit seven men, including her father, to help repopulate her village and save them from evil banditos. Narrator Susan Ericksen ably portrays each heartfelt character and delivers Spanish with confidence and ease. At times heartbreaking, at other times laugh-out-loud funny, this is a gritty and gratifying adventure. R.O. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine --AudioFile --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (May 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316025275
• ISBN-13: 978-0316025270
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,048 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining and thoughtful book, May 15, 2009

By	geas (Virginia) - See all my reviews

Into the Beautiful North is funny and painful. Some of it is hard to read. It's about love of all kinds. Nayeli, the heroine, is a wonderful, feisty young woman. Urrea understands and respects women and it shows. He has great compassion for all of the characters in the book. Three young women decide to find men to repopulate their village Tres Camarones (yes, Three Shrimp), when Nayeli realizes all the men are gone. Four friends set out with great innocence, enthusiasm and determination to do something that may or may not even be possible.

Urrea brings the real flavor of a place into being. You feel what it is to be in a small village in Mexico. You feel the heat, and the salt air on your skin.

I don't want to give any spoilers here, you need to discover the book for yourselves, but remember the words "I am Atomiko!"

It's a road trip book, it's a border book, it's a 'buddy' book. It's about the great beauty and pain of Mexico. And the kindness and compassion of some and the cruelty of others. It's about the good and bad of the US, and about surprising kindness and pointless evil. It's about life. But always, it's about love. All the kinds of love that there are. Oh yes, it's about Yul Brynner.

This book would make a wonderful movie, and I'd love to see a sequel. A whole series of books about Nayeli and her friends. I won't tell you what her friends are like, part of the fun is meeting them for the first time.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!, May 19, 2009

By	rucinn (CA United States) - See all my reviews

Urrea is a brilliant storyteller. Into the Beautiful North feels like a smooth read because he so masterfully created a piece of literary fiction that is refreshingly accessible. Breathtaking descriptions, lovable and feisty characters, painful topics soothed with humor, a powerful plot--- the novel has everything I appreciate in a book. After hearing Urrea speak at LA Festival of Books, I understand why there is such an optimistic feel to the book's difficult topics. The man has a light about him, an optimistic aura, and his bright spirit comes through in his writing.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Urrea's latest novel is a beauty, May 20, 2009

By	K.A. Kopple - See all my reviews

In this tale of four friends, one notorious and ugly fence, and two cultures, Luis Urrea puts his tremendous storytelling powers, years of experience, and imagination (always sympathetic) to use to create an unforgettable novel. I fell immediately in love with the characters, the dialogue (a great combination of Spanish, English, Hollywood, and street jargon mixed with references to pop fiction, movies, and music), and the scenery. Urrea's descriptive powers never fail him, whether he is describing the surreal charms of small-town Mexico, the insane majesty of the American west or a trip to the supermarket, where the packages of meat are lined up as neatly as books in a library.