Hello, I'm Timbidermius, and this is NPR's Book of the Day.

There's something about family lore that can feel, well, final.

Whether real or imagined, there's a certitude that comes from a story that's fully contained.

You know, this thing happened and here's how it shaped our family.

But those stories can also be beginnings, points of entry into who our families are and could have been, and the world that shaped them.

That's the case for Elizabeth Gonzalez-James, a story she heard about her great-grandfather served as the inspiration for her new book,

The Bullet Swallower.

It's a twist on the Outlaw Western novel, but it also pays homage to the beauty and complexity

of the U.S.-Mexico border and the history and people that surround it.

She talked about the book with All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro, and they chatted about the inspiration for the book, what it has to say about the U.S.-Mexico border today, and why it's so fun to write about people doing bad things.

Here's Ari Shapiro.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.S. National Security News can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.

On our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,

helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Growing up, Elizabeth Gonzalez-James heard a violent tale about her great-grandfather

Antonio Gonzalez.

It was that my great-grandfather was a bandito.

He was put in jail in Houston. He broke out, got chased down by the Texas

Rangers, and was shot in the face and left for dead. But he lived and eventually made it back to

...