The Tortilla Curtain

Read by the author.

The author of East Is East replays the tragi-comic meeting of representatives from two different cultures with nothing in common. This book calmly grabs hold with an unexpected suspense.

A Mexican illegal immigrant couple, Candido and America Rincon, seek a better life in Southern California. Candido’s freak accident shows the couple’s vulnerability and they are afraid to seek help. Each small improvement they are able to make in their daily existence, is quickly erased. They cross paths with Delany Mossbacher, a liberal nature writer who lives in a gated community in the same canyon. The story is artfully told from each character’s point of view and the reader is torn between the shifting currents in each world. Cultural misunderstandings and tragic errors create the gripping realization that this may be one story without a perfect ending.