The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches From the BorderThe Line Becomes a River: Dispatches From the Border
Score Modern
What it's about
Francisco Cantú, raised in the Southwest by his mother, a park ranger and daughter of a Mexican immigrant, joins the U.S. Border Patrol after college. Posted to remote deserts, he learns to track people through smuggling corridors, hauls in the dead and sends the living to detention, until the work begins to haunt him.
Why it's worth reading
It was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. It's a haunting, morally complex memoir of the border.
You'll love it if you liked
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee
Ghettoside: Investigating a Homicide Epidemic
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest TrailGood to know
It's short and lyrical, and raises hard questions about immigration enforcement.
By the numbers
- Readers65 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics24 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller11 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz7 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #208 of the 290 memoirs and biographies we rank
- #858 of the 1,573 modern books we rank
- #1589 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
True story
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Quick answers
Is The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches From the Border worth reading?
Yes. It was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. It ranks #1,589 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 67.5 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches From the Border about?
Francisco Cantú, raised in the Southwest by his mother, a park ranger and daughter of a Mexican immigrant, joins the U.S. Border Patrol after college. Posted to remote deserts, he learns to track people through smuggling corridors, hauls in the dead and sends the living to detention, until the work begins to haunt him.
How long does it take to read The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches From the Border?
About 6 hours (250 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches From the Border?
If you liked it, try The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer, Ghettoside: Investigating a Homicide Epidemic by Jill Leovy or Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed.