Monkey Boy: A Novel

"Francisco Goldman’s first novel since his gut-wrenching Say Her Name is brilliantly constructed auto-fiction that explores the author’s twin Catholic/Jewish and American/Guatemalan identities. The main character, Francisco Goldberg, traveling from Mexico to visit his ailing mother in Boston, plumbs his memory to reconstruct not only his mother’s story but also his own. Goldman writes with humor and honesty as he unpacks some of America’s senseless racial politics and deconstructs one family’s volatile, cross cultural history. The result is a family portrait that is funny, loving and fierce, all at the same time."