Tobar appears to portray the Los Angeles riots in a sympathetic light. Given how many people were killed in the riots (over 50), and how much damage was wrought, is his sympathy justifiable? Are riots? Use examples from the text or the real world to support your answer.

Tobar portrays his story against the backdrop of the LA riots partly because he is an expert on them, having won an award for covering the riots as they occurred. Do you see legitimate parallels between the LA riots and the turmoil and violence experienced by the characters in Guatemala and El Salvador? Why or why not?

Why do you think that Tobar placed so much focus on homeless characters in the novel, even making his protagonist homeless? How does this affect the novel’s themes? Could he have developed an equally interesting story of a successful immigrant working in LA?