"Acclaimed" won't do. "Legendary" is almost an understatement here. Where's that goddamn thesaurus? OK, never mind, just harken this-a-way:
The author recently "drove the entire length of the US-Mexico border, then went deep into the hinterland, on the back roads of Chiapas and Oaxaca, to uncover the rich, layered world behind today’s brutal headlines." He'll tell you about it tonight.