Scan barcode
suzzeb22's review against another edition
4.0
Really gripping account of life for illegal Mexican immigrants and a man in a gated Los Angeles community living life in L.A. but in completely different worlds. Boyle is an accomplished author and more people should read his work...
emma100107's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
felt so sad for américa
sevseverance's review against another edition
3.0
A thought provoking book about immigration, stereotypes, guns, etc. Ironic to be reading while immigration reform is bring proposed. I'm still digesting the book. I didn't like the way it ended. It felt there should be more but I guess it's up to the reader to come up with your own ending.
sleightoffeet's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
beckca03's review against another edition
5.0
I think TC Boyle is one of my favorite contemporary writers (along with Joyce Carol Oates). This work is his flagship, so to speak, and it offers a very interesting social commentary, without coming across as preachy. I might be in the minority (no pun intended) when I say that I truly feel like illegals serve their purpose in society (distance yourself from taxes, health care, etc for a minute). This book will make you think about the lives we lead and how our lives, like it or not, overlap with those we deem as "less fortunate."
hooziefoozie's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
peebee's review against another edition
1.0
Goddamn what a trash book. Like you could make a whole book out of the Mexicans trying to recover from the accident and the white guys soul rotting from guilt over abandoning the mexican with a $20 bill.
But no we don't trust the reader to get it, or keep paying attention so we need the wife to get raped, infected with syphilis, which blinds her baby she has in the woods, where they're living after all their money gets stolen, during a wildfire started when they tried to have a turkey dinner the man was gifted in the one seemingly nice thing to happen to him.
Which yea, also requires the characters to bounce back like looney tunes from all these disasters. Author doesnt keep time too close but its pretty clear the man is up walking seeking and eventually doing manual work within like, 3 weeks of being hit by a car and getting no medicine for injuries that would lay someone up for a month easy, let alone cripple them for life. Anyway hes almost certainly concussed and then later beat with a baseball bat around the head when he gets mugged. Instead of you know, dying or lapsing into a coma like would probably happen with an untreated concussion followed by blunt head trauma hes back scavenging for scraps and calling shots withinna few hours.
The white guys' breakdown would be interesting if it wasnt clear the author identifies with him and by extension expects the audience to. By the time hes hunting the Mexican in the woods at night with a gun that in a reverse chekov hes revealed to have in p 344/351, I had to stop and think what prompted this.
A coyote took two dogs because they moved to coyote country, and this is supposed to come as a shock to a professional naturalist? His car got stolen off a road in a location that would be basically impossible in real life as it was left on a road with basically no shoulder, on a super busy and extremely remote road. Other than that literally nothing. A wildfire happens but literally not one blade of grass in his development is damaged. His thabksgiving turkey gets burned in the oven when they evacuuate. A car drives down his street one time playing rap. Swear to god this is presented as like, a bonechilling incident.
The back jacket and every contemporary review I could find talks about how the two couples keep intersecting. Besides the accident, they run into each other once, in passing, with no words exchanged in a parking lot. And then not again till the very end when the white guy begins actively hunting mexicans - not searching to be clear, hunting with firearms.
The one doubt I had was that this was a straightfaced work on the audience. By presenting this fucking lunatic white dude as a sympathetic protagonist and turning him from a well meaning lib to a snarling Oath Keeper over three months of extremely comfortable rural living, maybe hes trying to prick our conscience and turn us against white supremacy by revulsing us with the conclusionnof the road this well meaning dope goes down? Based on my memories of where the cultural conversation was in the 90s and convos I've had recently with native californians ('polite racists' one and all) it didnt seem likely and again, none of the newspaper reviews from then, written with full contemporary cultural context, see it as played anything other than straight.
Free box of books box. I'd say I got my moneys worth but I dunno that free wasnt over priced.
But no we don't trust the reader to get it, or keep paying attention so we need the wife to get raped, infected with syphilis, which blinds her baby she has in the woods, where they're living after all their money gets stolen, during a wildfire started when they tried to have a turkey dinner the man was gifted in the one seemingly nice thing to happen to him.
Which yea, also requires the characters to bounce back like looney tunes from all these disasters. Author doesnt keep time too close but its pretty clear the man is up walking seeking and eventually doing manual work within like, 3 weeks of being hit by a car and getting no medicine for injuries that would lay someone up for a month easy, let alone cripple them for life. Anyway hes almost certainly concussed and then later beat with a baseball bat around the head when he gets mugged. Instead of you know, dying or lapsing into a coma like would probably happen with an untreated concussion followed by blunt head trauma hes back scavenging for scraps and calling shots withinna few hours.
The white guys' breakdown would be interesting if it wasnt clear the author identifies with him and by extension expects the audience to. By the time hes hunting the Mexican in the woods at night with a gun that in a reverse chekov hes revealed to have in p 344/351, I had to stop and think what prompted this.
A coyote took two dogs because they moved to coyote country, and this is supposed to come as a shock to a professional naturalist? His car got stolen off a road in a location that would be basically impossible in real life as it was left on a road with basically no shoulder, on a super busy and extremely remote road. Other than that literally nothing. A wildfire happens but literally not one blade of grass in his development is damaged. His thabksgiving turkey gets burned in the oven when they evacuuate. A car drives down his street one time playing rap. Swear to god this is presented as like, a bonechilling incident.
The back jacket and every contemporary review I could find talks about how the two couples keep intersecting. Besides the accident, they run into each other once, in passing, with no words exchanged in a parking lot. And then not again till the very end when the white guy begins actively hunting mexicans - not searching to be clear, hunting with firearms.
The one doubt I had was that this was a straightfaced work on the audience. By presenting this fucking lunatic white dude as a sympathetic protagonist and turning him from a well meaning lib to a snarling Oath Keeper over three months of extremely comfortable rural living, maybe hes trying to prick our conscience and turn us against white supremacy by revulsing us with the conclusionnof the road this well meaning dope goes down? Based on my memories of where the cultural conversation was in the 90s and convos I've had recently with native californians ('polite racists' one and all) it didnt seem likely and again, none of the newspaper reviews from then, written with full contemporary cultural context, see it as played anything other than straight.
Free box of books box. I'd say I got my moneys worth but I dunno that free wasnt over priced.
leee_laaa_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I don’t actually know what to think of this book. But 4 because of the writing style.
rachel3000's review against another edition
5.0
depressing but excellent reflection on current issues of race and class in southern california
cdjdhj's review against another edition
4.0
If you have ever had an opinion about illegal immigration, no matter what it is, you should read this book. It is compelling and thought provoking.