WINNER OF GOLD MEDAL, TRAVEL ESSAYS, BOOK OF THE YEAR, FOREWORD MAGAZINE
RECIPIENT OF AN ILLINOIS ARTS COUNCIL CREATIVE NONFICTION AWARD
The Sierra Madre--no other mountain range in the world possesses such a ring of intrigue. In the Sierra Madre is a groundbreaking and extraordinary memoir that chronicles the astonishing history of one of the most famous, yet unknown, regions in the world. Based on his one-year sojourn among the Raramuri/Tarahumara in Mexico's Copper Canyon, award-winning journalist Jeff Biggers offers a rare look into the ways of the most resilient indigenous culture in the Americas, the exploits of the Mexican mountaineers, and the fascinating parade of argonauts and accidental travelers that has journeyed into the Sierra Madre over centuries. From African explorers, Bohemian friars, Confederate and Irish war deserters, French poets, Boer and Russian commandos, hidden Apache and Mennonite communities, bewildered archaeologists, addled writers, and legendary characters like Antonin Artaud, B. Traven, Sergei Eisenstein, George Patton, Geronimo and Pancho Villa, Biggers uncovers the remarkable treasures of the Sierra Madre (Mexico's Copper Canyon).
Read an excerpt in The Atlantic: "Searching for El Chapareke."
Listen to an excerpt on NPR's Savvy Traveler: "Yumari."
Listen to an excerpt on NPR's Savvy Traveler: "Movie Night in the Sierra Madre."
Read an except in World Hum Travel Magazine: "Saying Goodbye in the Sierra Madre."
Read an excerpt in GoNomad: "In the Sierra Madre."
"For those interested in living culture, this book offers a treasury of anecdotes of the clash and blend of old and new."--Guadalajara Reporter, Mexico
"Jeff Biggers' loving tale of life in the Sierra Madre reminds readers of what's really important."--Tucson Weekly
"Jeff Biggers has the keenest eye in the business, and he has a fine, luminous voice to tell you what he has seen. This is a welcome addition to western and Mexican letters. Biggers manages to write like a poet, a historian, a naturalist, and an adventurer. His pages are burnished and alive, and I admire his work. You need to read this one soon."--Luis Urrea, author of The Hummingbird's Daughter and The Devil's Highway
"Half a century after the release of the film, Jeff Biggers brings home the true treasure of the Sierra Madre: its stories. Biggers weaves a tapestry of intertwined tales that sheds light on this little-known region. Warm-hearted and compassionate, these stories bring to life the Raramuri.” --Michael Shapiro, author of A Sense of Place: Great Travel Writers Talk about Their Craft, Lives, and Inspiration
"Jeff Biggers, as demonstrated here, is a journalist of considerable talent."--Bernard Fontana, The Journal of Arizona History
Published and translated in French by Albin Michel, Dans la Sierra Madre.
"Jeff Biggers, ethnologue américain, a passé un an dans l'intimité des populations locales, partageant leurs contraintes, participant aux fêtes locales, joignant le son de son banjo aux instruments de l'orchestre.... que ce beau récit nous permet de partager."--L'Express
"Se préférant « voyageur qui écrit » à écrivain-voyageur, Jeff Biggers, dont l’ouvrage sur la culture Appalache lui a valu prix et honneurs outre-Atlantique, offre à la fois une vision ethnologique et poétique de cette culture indigène singulièrement préservée. Dans la Sierra Madre, Une année chez les Tarahumaras , publié aux Etats-Unis en 2006, est à la fois un carnet de route, des mémoires et une leçon d’histoire… qui se lit comme un roman."--Boox Magazine
Read a review in Le Nouvel Obs: Un an chez les Tarahumaras.
Read a review in Le Devoir: Les invasions civilisées.
Au terme d'une année passée dans un village isolé, au cœur de la Sierra Madre, parmi les Tarahumaras, le journaliste Jeff Biggers, lauréat du prix Lowell Thomas, nous présente l'une des cultures indigènes les mieux préservées d'Amérique. Les «Raramuris», comme ils se désignent eux-mêmes, héritiers d'une ancienne culture précolombienne, constituent l'un des groupes indigènes les plus importants d'Amérique. La plupart respectent un mode de vie traditionnel et une philosophie empreinte de chamanisme, même si la vie moderne a mis à mal leur autarcie, basée sur la culture et la chasse.