A deeply personal exploration of race, immigration, sexuality, family, and masculinity through the eyes of a first-generation gay man–the son of an undocumented Mexican father and a Puerto Rican mother.

A searching memoir … A subtle, expertly written repudiation of the American dream in favor of something more inclusive and more realistic. -Kirkus, starred review

There are many Pedros living in many Americas …

One Pedro goes to a school where they take away his language. Another disappears in the desert, leaving behind only a backpack. A cousin Pedro comes to visit, awakening feelings that others are afraid to make plain. A rumored Pedro goes missing so completely it’s as if he were never there.

In Pedro’s Theory Marcos Gonsalez explores the lives of these many Pedros, real and imagined. Several are the author himself, while others are strangers, lovers, archetypes, and the men he might have been in other circumstances. All are journeying to some sort of Promised Land, or hoping to discover an America of their own.

With sparkling prose and cutting insights, this brilliant literary debut closes the gap between who the world sees in us and who we see in ourselves. Deeply personal yet inspiringly political, it also brings to life those selves that never get the chance to be seen at all.