The Tortilla Curtain | Page 1 of 143

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

PART ONE - Arroyo Blanco

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

PART TWO - EI Tenksgeevee

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5 - PILGRIM AT TOPANGA CREEK

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

PART THREE - Socorro

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

FOR MORE FROM T. C. BOYLE, LOOK FOR THE

PENGUIN BOOKS

THE TORTILLA CURTAIN

T. C. Boyle is the author of The Inner Circle, Drop City (a finalist for The National Book Award), A Friend of the Earth, Riven Rock, The Tortilla Curtain, The Road to Wellville, East Is East, World’s End (winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award), Budding Prospects, Water Music, and seven collections of stories. In 1999, he was the recipient of the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction. His stories appear regularly in major American magazines, including The New Yorker, GQ, Esquire, and Playboy. He lives near Santa Barbara, California. T. C. Boyle’s Web site is www.tcboyle.com.

Praise for The Tortilla Curtain

“It says a lot about T. Coraghessan Boyle’s new novel that so many generations of great satirists come to mind when reading it—from Swift to Twain to Waugh to Woody Allen, Boyle specifically evokes Voltaire.”

-The Baltimore Sun

“Boyle’s writing is irresistible and his sense of dramatic timing is impeccable.” —Entertainment Weekly

“Weaving social commentary into moving entertaining fiction is a job few writers can handle. Boyle does so here, admirably. Readers should not miss this latest work from an impressive talent.”

—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“A compelling story of myopic misunderstanding and mutual tragedy.”

-Chicago Tribune

“Boyle’s sixth novel cements his place among the reigning pantheon of contemporary American fiction writers. (It’s one heck of a great read.)”

-Rocky Mountain News

“A panoramic slice of social realism ... incorporates all of Boyle’s themes: the impossibility of assimilation, the need for control, the increasing helplessness of white males.” -Vogue

“A tale that squeezes one last cup of vinegar from The Grapes of Wrath.”

-Portland Oregonian

PENGUIN BOOKS

Published by the Penguin Group

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M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

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(a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)

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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England

First published in the United States of America by Viking Penguin,

a division of Penguin Books USA Inc. 1995

Published in Penguin Books 1996

Copyright © T. Coraghessan Boyle, 1995

All rights reserved

A portion of this work first appeared in the Los Angeles Times magazine.

I PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of

the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living

or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

eISBN : 978-1-101-04260-1

I. Title.

PS3552.0932T67 1995

813’.54—dc20 95-1970

The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any

other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law.