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The electrifying debut memoir of a son of working-class Mexican immigrants who fled a life of labor in fruit-packing plants to run in an Indigenous marathon from Canada to Guatemala, reimagining North America and his place in it
Growing up in Yakima, Washington, Noé Álvarez worked at an apple-packing plant alongside his mother, who “slouched over a conveyor belt of fruit, shoulder to shoulder with mothers conditioned to believe this was all they could do with their lives.” A university scholarship offered escape, but as a first-generation Latino college-goer, Álvarez struggled to fit in.
At nineteen, he learned about a Native American/First Nations movement called the Peace and Dignity Journeys, epic marathons meant to renew cultural connections across North America. He dropped out of school and joined a group of Dené, Secwépemc, Gitxsan, Dakelh, Apache, Tohono O’odham, Seri, Purépecha, and Maya runners, all fleeing difficult beginnings. Telling their stories alongside his own, Álvarez writes about a four-month-long journey from Canada to Guatemala that pushed him to his limits. He writes not only of overcoming hunger, thirst, and fear―dangers included stone-throwing motorists and a mountain lion―but also of asserting Indigenous and working-class humanity in a capitalist society where oil extraction, deforestation, and substance abuse wreck communities.
Running through mountains, deserts, and cities, and through the Mexican territory his parents left behind, Álvarez forges a new relationship with the land, and with the act of running, carrying with him the knowledge of his parents’ migration, and―against all odds in a society that exploits his body and rejects his spirit―the dream of a liberated future.
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About the Author:
Noé Álvarez was born to Mexican immigrant parents and raised working-class in Yakima, Washington. He lives in Boston, where, until recently, he worked as a security officer at one of the nation’s oldest libraries, the Boston Athenæum.
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Praise for Spirit Run
"This book is not like any other out there. You will see this country in a fresh way, and you might see aspects of your own soul. A beautiful run." ―Luís Alberto Urrea, author of The House of Broken Angels
"Spirit Run is the story of what brown bodies must do to reclaim identity and dignity. In language that puts us not only in the shoes but in the skin of the displaced, Álvarez takes back Raymond Carver country and tells an electric, kinetic, modern working-class story. So few books make me sweat and cry. Spirit Run has summoned breath and energy out of me." ―Cinelle Barnes, author of Monsoon Mansion and Malaya
"Noé Álvarez’s words beat with the pulse of our hemisphere. Through them, we encounter Mexican, Indigenous, and migrant stories that are distinctly, defiantly American. Spirit Run is an anthem to the landscape that holds our identities and traumas, and its profound power to heal them." ―Francisco Cantú, author of The Line Becomes a River
"Like all the best running books, Spirit Run is about much more than clocking up the miles. Álvarez's journey honors the migration story of his parents and the arduous crossings made by so many other Americans. Spirit Run is a stunning memoir that moves to the rhythm of feet, labor, and the many landscapes of the Americas." ―Catriona Menzies-Pike, author of The Long Run
"Spirit Run is a remarkable book. In gentle, minimalist, profound prose, Noé Álvarez writes about his once-undocumented parents before going on to run thousands of miles with Indigenous people. He finds his own magic." ―Douglas Whynott, author of The Sugar Season
"'I know now that every bit of earth contains the sacredness of another person’s existence,' says Noé Álvarez in this riveting debut memoir, which ruminates on the relationship of the body to the landscape and what it means to call a place home. This account of a run is also a journey into the mind that, after incredible tests of endurance and faith, blurs the distinction between running and prayer. Spirit Run offers a distinct vision of the risks we must take to attain a life worth living." ―Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, author of Cenzontle
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- PublisherCatapult
- Publication date2020
- ISBN 10 1948226464
- ISBN 13 9781948226462
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages240
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