This Love Is Not for Cowards: Salvation and Soccer in the Ciudad Juarez

What’s it like to live in the “world’s most dangerous city?” Miami native Powell wanted to find out, so he moved to Juarez, Mexico, which, he says, had 2,700 murders in 2009, “the year I got here.” Knowing no one in the city, Powell gravitates to the local soccer team, Indios de Juárez, which is in danger of being relegated to the minors after not long ago inspiring the city with its improbable elevation to the Mexican Primera league. Through the team, Powell (We Own This Game) gets to know a cross-section of Juarez’s population. There is Francisco Ibarra, the enigmatic owner of the Indios, who believes his team can save the city; Marco, the American-born player who ignores the violence in favor of making his sporting dreams come true; and El Kartel, a rowdy bunch of diehard fans who believe in the Indios even though the town around them is crumbling to the ground. Powell’s prose is smart and witty, and betrays a journalist’s keen eye for detail (“Mexico is where American fads go for an encore.... The Blockbuster Video near my apartment remains crowded”). Much like the soccer classic The Miracle of Castel di Sangro by Joe McGinniss, Powell’s work explores not only the connection between an athletic team and its fans but also one city and one community’s ability to simultaneously face conditions that destroy hope and try to restore faith, and in doing so he has written not only a great sports book but also a powerful treatise on civics and human nature. (Apr.)