Customer Reviews

God and Mr. Gomez: Building a Dream House in Baja

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I first read GOD AND MR GOMEZ as a child, in the Reader's Digest COndensed Books my parents ordered so faithfully. I was enchanted with the beauty of Baja, and the friendly, welcoming way Mr. Gomez encourages Jack to relax and become part of the culture he's living in. His house may not have been built quickly, but it will stand for a thousand years, thanks to Mr. Gomez:)

After reading God and Mr. Gomez, my boyfriend and I decided to drive to La Bocana de Santo Tomas, to visit the Jack Smith house and see for ourselves what this majical place was all about. 6 months later we purchased our own casa down the road from the original Smith house, and even got married on our deck there last year. You never know when you pick up a book just how it may affect your life...

Easy to read, funny, absolutely right-on account of what happens when American meets Mexican culture. Smith recounts his constant frustrations, surprise, and delight at the Mexican way. I worked in Mexico for 4 years and can vouch for the veracity of Smith's observations. Very sympathetic and respectful of Mexican culture and habits for the most part. Smith is a very talented writer.

There's a good reason this book is still in print after 30 years. An incredibly funny account of Smith's adventure in building a vacation house in Baja California. Hilarious and also touching; a clash of cultures between the linear thinking Smith and Mr. Gomez, who seems unreliable, illogical, and capricious to Smith. Smith tries to change Mr. Gomez's way of working and thinking, and Smith ends up being changed himself, discovering that Gomez was right about a lot of things after all. I can't imagine anyone that wouldn't enjoy this book. Buy it.

My wife and I built a house in Baja at about the same time as Jack Smith. He built on the west side, or ocean side and we built on the Gulf of California side. While we were building, Jack's story was unfolding in the LA Times. It was riotous and the building of our house resulted in many of the same experiences. Our Mr Gomez was Raphael Orozco. He was a wonderful man and he was in many respects a Mr. Gomez.

Our adventure is in Puerto Penasco Mexico and we have Senor Tomas instead of Mr Gomez. Deja vu.

I first read this book twenty years ago, and I loved it. Since then, my husband and I have built a house in the Baja. God and Mr. Gomez has something of a cult following among those of us who have done so. Incidentally, we all feel Jack Smith had it easy!

I loved so much of this book and can relate to much of it as we have built a home in Mexico. We experieced the same issues the book covers and many times I wish I would have read the book before building. The book is well written and lovely story.

Both Jack Smith and Mr. Gomez have passed on from this life. Thanks to Jack's gifted writing ability, you can experience the culture, beauty and patience pace still to be found in Baja California. I have been there and seen the house, the road, the federalli check point, the cliffs and the fishing village. I have had the good fortune to have stayed in a home near Jack's and met others who followed Jack's column in the LA Times during those years of construction of his "mansion". I have searched used book stores and bought on-line used copies while new books have not been published since 1997. I am so glad it is back in print so I can recommend it to my friends. Great reading and funny too!

My wife and I listened to this book on tape (while on a drive cross-country). The description made it sound whimsical and funny.

I found "God and Mr. Gomez" to be tiring and tedious, with characters that were unengaging, uninteresting and almost pathetic.

After more than a year of frequent weekend visits to Mexico, Jack can barely even speak a handful of words in Spanish. He alternates between suspicion and near-worship of Mr. Gomez, his contractor and landlord.

At one point I remarked to my wife, "One of the worst things I could imagine would be to have Jack as a neighbor." I hope the character is a fabrication, and not a realistic portrait of the author.

Some of the prose describing the Baja landscape was rather eloquent. Early in the book, there were passages that were quite humorous, but as the story went on the same scenerios repeated, and became tiring.

We listened to perhaps 3/4 of the book, at which point we simply turned it off. If you are considering this book, I would suggest you reconsider.