Review by Chinacats4 -- Gringo
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Chinacats4
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Review by Chinacats4 -- Gringo
[Following is a volunteer review of "Gringo" by Dan "Tito" Davis.]
2 out of 4 stars
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Gringo: My Life on the Edge as an International Fugitive by Peter Conti and Dan “Tito” Davis
Gringo: My Life on the Edge as an International Fugitive is a Biography/Autobiography of Dan Davis. Dan Davis provided Peter Conti a manuscript detailing his life. Peter Conti then re-wrote it filling in the blanks and editing it to become this book.
The first few chapters tell of Dan’s early years. When Dan was in college, he made a fortune selling pills called White Crosses that were made of ephedrine. At that time ephedrine was not an illegal substance. Some years later a friend told the DEA that Dan was selling methamphetamine, and Dan was arrested. He was not guilty but didn’t believe that he could convince the DEA of his innocence. At this point, he ran to Mexico and spent the next 13 years in South America.
Dan makes a list he calls the “do not” list. This is a list of things that he promised himself he would not do while on the run. Some he keeps, some he does not. I found it interesting that he annotates when he does things that in hindsight were dumb, with the words “gringo stupido.” The book talks about his life in several South American countries including Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala, and Cuba.
I found many errors in the book, mostly spacing errors. The first letter of the first word of each new chapter is separated from the rest of the word by a blank line. In some sections paragraphs are separated by a blank line in others there is no separation between paragraphs. Paragraphs are not indented so without a line separation, it is difficult to read. In several places, a sentence is split by a blank line.
I rated Gringo 2 out of 4 stars. I rated it low in part because of the spacing errors. Biographies are not my preferred reads, and I know this colored my opinion, but I was very bored reading this book. It reads like a journal, which in a way, it is. This would be a good read for those who like biographies or who want to know what life in South America is like for an American fugitive.
While I am sure that a lot of what happened to Dan while he was in South America was very stressful, the writing is matter-of-fact. I also could not feel any sympathy for Dan. He was a drug dealer, and while he was not guilty of selling methamphetamine, he was still a drug dealer. He also didn’t appear to learn from his mistakes. You find the phrase “gringo stupido” many, many times in the text. At one point, Dan states that he wonders if subconsciously, he wants to be caught and returned to the US.
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Gringo
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2 out of 4 stars
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Gringo: My Life on the Edge as an International Fugitive by Peter Conti and Dan “Tito” Davis
Gringo: My Life on the Edge as an International Fugitive is a Biography/Autobiography of Dan Davis. Dan Davis provided Peter Conti a manuscript detailing his life. Peter Conti then re-wrote it filling in the blanks and editing it to become this book.
The first few chapters tell of Dan’s early years. When Dan was in college, he made a fortune selling pills called White Crosses that were made of ephedrine. At that time ephedrine was not an illegal substance. Some years later a friend told the DEA that Dan was selling methamphetamine, and Dan was arrested. He was not guilty but didn’t believe that he could convince the DEA of his innocence. At this point, he ran to Mexico and spent the next 13 years in South America.
Dan makes a list he calls the “do not” list. This is a list of things that he promised himself he would not do while on the run. Some he keeps, some he does not. I found it interesting that he annotates when he does things that in hindsight were dumb, with the words “gringo stupido.” The book talks about his life in several South American countries including Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala, and Cuba.
I found many errors in the book, mostly spacing errors. The first letter of the first word of each new chapter is separated from the rest of the word by a blank line. In some sections paragraphs are separated by a blank line in others there is no separation between paragraphs. Paragraphs are not indented so without a line separation, it is difficult to read. In several places, a sentence is split by a blank line.
I rated Gringo 2 out of 4 stars. I rated it low in part because of the spacing errors. Biographies are not my preferred reads, and I know this colored my opinion, but I was very bored reading this book. It reads like a journal, which in a way, it is. This would be a good read for those who like biographies or who want to know what life in South America is like for an American fugitive.
While I am sure that a lot of what happened to Dan while he was in South America was very stressful, the writing is matter-of-fact. I also could not feel any sympathy for Dan. He was a drug dealer, and while he was not guilty of selling methamphetamine, he was still a drug dealer. He also didn’t appear to learn from his mistakes. You find the phrase “gringo stupido” many, many times in the text. At one point, Dan states that he wonders if subconsciously, he wants to be caught and returned to the US.
******
Gringo
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Chinacats4's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: Gringo by Dan "Tito" Davis
