Borderlands: Riding the Edge of America
Shortlisted for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize 2011
Available in paperback in Canada and the United States in October 2011
Lundy investigates the idea that "good fences make good neighbours" when the fence in question is actually a heavily patrolled wall. The Mexican border represents a social and economic threat to Americans, in the form of illegal immigrants and drugs. However, the Canadian border is, by far, the more problematic. If Mexico equals indocumentados and dope, Canada equals the unknown: the subway attack, the dirty bomb in the suitcase - terror and bloody murder, the continuing erosion of the safe isolation of the American heartland.
A rich, timely read to appeal to the current events/history/adventure readership. Armchair travellers will love joining Derek as he takes his trusty Kawasaki KLR 650 motorcycle to travel the U.S.-Mexican border, then the U.S.-Canada border, providing an unusual, first-hand account of the borderlands, the countries and the people.
“Intrepid adventure traveller, daring investigative reporter, and rigorous historian, Derek Lundy rode his motorcycle on ‘the edge’ in more than one way—the borders of the United States with Mexico and Canada, yes, but he also often rode the edge of survival, against wind, rain, heat, cold, gravel, mud, and homicidal logging trucks. Equally, he faced the extremes of the American frontier myth in the 21st Century, as I have also experienced them, as represented by the Border Patrol, the Department of Homeland Security, and vigilante groups like the Minutemen. His polished prose is searingly honest about himself and what he experiences, and his story goes well beyond the conventions of ‘where I went and what I saw.’ He takes the reader into the deeper complexity of ‘what it all means.’ Borderlands is entertaining, enlightening, and important. I hope it will be widely read, and in particular by Americans—to witness what is being done in their names at the ragged edges of their great country.”
—Neil Peart, author of Ghost Rider and Roadshow, and drummer for "Rush"
"Get on the bike, we're gonna have us a ride. Derek Lundy's border meditation takes us deep inside the American obsession with security. His clear Canadian eye and clean prose makes me realize that my country shouts about safety but is frightened by life itself."
-Charles Bowden, author of Down by the River: Drugs Money Murder and Family
The paperback edition of Borderlands will be published in Canada and the United States in October 2011.
To buy this book, click on Amazon.ca
To pre-order the paperback edition, click on Amazon.com
Review Excerpts
“Open and honest about his failings as a rider, Lundy employs a wry sense of humour that keeps the pages turning as the miles fly by. Borderlands is well-balanced, both in terms of interview subjects and the exposure given to the northern and southern U.S. borders. While the book is primarily a travelogue commenting on America’s growing security obsession, in the borderlands between politics and memoir a fine history lesson exists, and Lundy is an excellent teacher.”
Quill & Quire - Starred Review
“Borderlands is the superbly rendered story of [Lundy’s] trips [along the two U.S. borders]. Lundy's analysis of, and meditation on, what it's like for Canada and Mexico to share a border with the world's superpower in a post-9/11 world is both convincing and alarming. [He] has a knack for lighting a fire under familiar history. He provides fast-paced summaries of seminal events in north and south borderlands history ... all delivered without sacrificing accuracy or nuance. Borderlands is tough to pigeonhole. It's part travelogue, part history, part analysis of U.S.-Canada relations and part reflection on the joys and pains of biking. Regardless, it's all good.”
Winnipeg Free Press
“[A] complex and absorbing portrait of the anxious, post-9/11 U.S.A. . . . supremely enjoyable — an artful story, a provocative rumination . . . Lundy [is] erudite, reasonable and amusingly self-deprecating [and] provides succinct historical overviews throughout, reminding us of what the here-and-now is founded on.”
Vancouver Sun
“The book is part travelogue and part lesson on the continent’s history. But mostly, it’s a fascinating look at U.S. national security post–9/11 and the human consequences. . . . Besides covering the political, the book gets personal, detailing Lundy’s struggles with his motorbike, painful injuries, and reflections on his own mortality. The joy of the ride runs through it all.”
The Georgia Straight
“I found it very informative, entertaining, disturbing, but, most of all, I appreciated its great insights regarding the Canadian and U.S.-Mexico borderlands. You are one adventurous, fearless dude to have the audacity to ride a motorcycle along both borders, to go to isolated places and backroads to which I would never venture, and to mingle with so many characters, including countless Border Patrol agents! Anyway, the book is a masterpiece ....”
Oscar Martinez, Regents’ Professor
University of Arizona
