THE CROSSING.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994., 1994. First edition. First edition. Volume Two of the Border Trilogy. 8vo. Fine copy in dust jacket. "The Crossing concerns a young American rancher living near the Mexican border in the 1930s, a time when the old West is grudgingly entering the modern world while Mexico is being torn apart by revolution. And like volume one's memorable hero, John Cole Grady, 16-year-old Billy Pawson is drawn south in a nearly mythical journey to find himself. Billy initially crosses into Mexico to take a wolf he had trapped on his New Mexico ranch back to the animal's native mountains. When he returns, he finds that his home has been plundered, and he and his 14-year-old brother set off for Mexico to find their family's stolen horses. Traveling through the lawless ruins of the post-revolutionary Mexican countryside, they encounter Gypsy wanderers, carnival actors, horse-traders, horse thieves, revolutionary soldiers, and men of various religions. All offer sage advice about the journey, and Billy's failure to heed their wisdom sometimes has horrifying results." This is the story of how a teenage boy's well-intentioned folly ruins his life and destroys his family. And despite those who would try to set Billy Parham upon the right and true path, life throws up too many impassable obstacles.