Culture and class conflict between Anglos and illegal Mexican immigrants in Southern California... I really want to give this book 3 1/2 stars due to the heavy hand of the author and the ghastly characters, but there is something so fascinating about this book that kept my attention. A book that desperately wants to be both a novel of ideas and a dramatic telenovela, at times I found myself saying to the author "oh come on, don't do that."