THE TORTILLA CURTAIN by T. C. BOYLE

This book is the journey of several characters, but mostly two men. One is white, and living in the exclusive gated community of Arroyo Blanco, at the top of Topanga Canyon in California. The other is a modern-day Job; Candido Rincon, a Mexican immigrant who only wants to work and have a few simple comforts such as a roof, and a refrigerator and running water. This book brilliantly uses metaphor and circumstance to illuminate two juxtaposed worlds. You will be forced to feel and think and you won't come away without opinions, although they may be jumbled. Having lived in California for a few years in my youth, it brought that golden place of contrast into sharp focus for me again. Although Drop City is my favorite T. C. Boyle book, this is the one I consider his most important. With Tortilla Curtain, Boyle has placed himself as a modern-day Steinbeck (in my opinion). Ok, my favorite Latin-American movies to go with this book are: My Family starring Jimmy Smits; The Perez Family starring Marisa Tomei; and Under the Same Moon.