Molly Foust reviewed The tortilla curtain by T.C. Boyle
Review of 'The tortilla curtain' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Tortilla Curtain has T.C. Boyle's trademark LOL social satire, full of ludicrous scenes and artfully clueless idealists. So I enjoyed this book immensely. But he has done better. The character of Delaney, a white liberal transmogrified into a hate-mongering, spineless wiener after hitting a luckless illegal immigrant, was not convincing, he evil careening out of control, his soul sold for the goodwill of his wife and horrid, horrid neighbors, his anger building from irritation to murderous rage almost spontaneously.
Another problem was that these liberals are so irritating you don't even want to stay in the book with them, and cannot believe such people exist. But on reflection, they probably do in Southern California, which makes me wonder why T.C. Boyle continues to live in such an awful place, though perhaps it is because there is so much material.
He preaches a logic of "why love your yappy dog or …
Tortilla Curtain has T.C. Boyle's trademark LOL social satire, full of ludicrous scenes and artfully clueless idealists. So I enjoyed this book immensely. But he has done better. The character of Delaney, a white liberal transmogrified into a hate-mongering, spineless wiener after hitting a luckless illegal immigrant, was not convincing, he evil careening out of control, his soul sold for the goodwill of his wife and horrid, horrid neighbors, his anger building from irritation to murderous rage almost spontaneously.
Another problem was that these liberals are so irritating you don't even want to stay in the book with them, and cannot believe such people exist. But on reflection, they probably do in Southern California, which makes me wonder why T.C. Boyle continues to live in such an awful place, though perhaps it is because there is so much material.
He preaches a logic of "why love your yappy dog or fret over endangered lizards when you lack the humanity to help a single human being" that many people would agree with, though I disagree, being a friend to animals is important too, and you need not sacrifice one for the other.
The ending was fabulous, and quite satisfying without being pat.
My recommendation would be to take this as a light beach read for a reader too particular for shoddy writing or predictable storytelling but not wanting an epic. Also give to any racist wealthy teetering liberals living in LA that you might know.
