Tortilla Curtain - by T. C. Boyle

The Tortilla Curtain is the story of two couples in Southern California and their contrasting lives. America and Candido have recently crossed the Mexican border in search of a better life for themselves and their soon to be born child. Instead of the panacea they thought they would find, the couple tries to eak out a living working day labor jobs and camping in the bottom of a canyon. An unfortunate event links their lives to those of Delaney, a nature writer, and his wife Kyra, a ambitiously high rolling real estate agent, who live in an exclusive neighborhood.

While the story has some interesting ideas and elements, especially regarding immigration, it was slightly cliche and one-dimentional. Bad things keep happening to America and Candido, while Delaney, Kyra, and the rest of the gabachos in town become more and more hateful to immigrants...with no moderate or sympathetic voices.