Most residents of Milagro live in severe poverty and are suspicious of this effort, but do not understand the implications of proceeding with the development, which hinges on Devine's securing necessary land and water rights.
Joe Mondragon, a ne'er-do-well town resident, sets off the conflict that drives the plot by illegally irrigating his bean field.
The forces supporting Ladd Devine's project attempt to put a stop to Mondragon's actions without inflaming tensions of the townspeople, which could derail the development.
Kirkus Reviews called the book "More alive than a grasshopper on a hot skillet", "full of good humor" and "comic drive".
[2] However, Frederick Busch, writing in The New York Times, states "Nichols's attempt to make his love for an area and his social concern coincide with his often celebrated sense of humor is doomed by his own always visible hand."