There's no José here : following the hidden lives of Mexican immigrants /

Thompson, a journalist who also works with a nonprofit organization assisting low-income renters in New York City, decided to delve into the immigrant experience, hoping to break through stereotypes. Thompson meets and befriends Enrique, a cabdriver who came to the U.S. illegally from Puebla, Mexico, in 1986. Thompson recounts his endless struggle to get Enrique's absent landlord to take care of the raw sewage in the basement of his building, the exposed electrical wiring, and the blocked fire escape, and his findings regarding the sad track record of the Housing Court, where Enrique repeatedly pleads his case. Thompson and Enrique then enter the public health nightmare of lead poisoning when Enrique's daughter is afflicted; together they help to organize fellow renters until the city finally addresses the problem. The last part of the book covers the author's road trip with Enrique to his birthplace in Mexico, where his mother still lives. Thompson's enlightening chronicle provides a realistic and unbiased look at many facets of the increasingly debated issues pertaining to immigrants' lives. --Deborah Donovan Copyright 2006 Booklist

The pro-immigration rallies throughout the United States in March 2006 brought attention to a rarely heard voice in the debate: the immigrant. Journalist and former community organizer Thompson puts several of these unheard voices on record, writing an intimate and emotional portrait of a Mexican family he befriended in Brooklyn. The book follows the lives of Enrique, a 34-year-old livery cab driver, and his family, whom Thompson meets while working as a housing rights organizer. Thompson's authentic friendship with Enrique is evident, giving the book a more personal tone than most immigration writing by outsiders. In fact, the book is as much about Thompson's desire for understanding as it is about Enrique's struggles with his daughter's lead poisoning, his best friend's deployment to Iraq, his cousin's murder in Brooklyn and family drama in Mexico. Their engaging and affectionate story begins in the housing courts of New York City and ends in Mexico, where Enrique, now a legal U.S. citizen, confronts his conflicted feelings about his native land. While Thompson successfully engages the reader in a single immigrant's experience and psychology, he doesn't draw any larger societal conclusions. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved