Nan On the Plain of Snakes: A Mexican Journey, Paul Theroux drives the entire length of the U.S.-Mexico border, goes deep into the hinterland, and travels the back roads of Chiapas and Oaxaca, looking to uncover the layered world behind the screaming headlines. Stopping to talk with border town residents, Zapotec mill workers in the highlands, Zapatista party members, and people of all stripes who remain south of the border even as family members brave the journey north, Theroux makes his way through a region in bitter conflict. He’s talking to Luis Alberto Urrea, author of the novel The House of Broken Angels, which brings us to the door of the De La Cruzes, a family on the Mexican-American border, as they celebrate the lives of two of their most beloved relatives during a joyous and bittersweet weekend.
