God and Mr. Gomez

"A charming account of the building of a dream house in Baja California. Mr. Gomez, on whom all depends, is a delightful character-creation." --Clifton Fadiman

Their house took form, first in their imaginations, then on paper. Little things went wrong along the way.... The building site had a way of moving slightly each time they visited it, and by the time the foundation was laid, it had moved to the middle of the road. Gomez got around that by simply moving the road.

Fortunately, Gomez was always on hand to provide the solution, and the dream house was finally built. In the process, the Smiths came to accept Mr. Gomez's philosophy that all practical problems can be solved with a little time -- and a little tequila.

Jack Smith is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times.