The House Of The Pain Of Others

"Early in the twentieth century, amid the myths of progress and modernity that underpinned Mexicos ruling party, some th... (more)

"Early in the twentieth century, amid the myths of progress and modernity that underpinned Mexicos ruling party, some three hundred Chinese immigrants--close to half of the Cantonese residents of the newly founded city of Torreon--were massacred over the course of three days. It is considered the largest slaguther of Chinese people in the history of the Americas, but more than a century later, the facts continue to be elusive, mistaken, and repressed. 'And what do you know about the Chinese popel who were killed here?' Julian Herbert asks anyone who will listen. An exorcism of persistent and discomfiting ghosts, [this book] attempts a reckoning with the 1911 massacre. looping, digressive, and cinematic, Herbert blends reportage, personal reflection, essay, and academic research to portray the historical context as well as he lives of the perpetrators and victims of the 'small genocide.' This brilliant historical excavating echoes proudndly in an age redolent with violence and xenophobia."-- Back voer. (less)