Alligator Tears

Praise

“Through honest writing, Edgar Gomez beautifully depicts the importance of creating and having a queer community. At times funny, at others crucially poignant, Alligator Tears establishes Gomez as a voice of their generation.”—Javier Zamora, New York Times bestselling author of Solito

“Gomez is sweet and conversational, like a friend readers have known for life: nostalgic, playful, and caring. . . . It is beautiful to get to know the life of this artist, whose endearing world will remain with readers long after they’ve finished the book.”—Booklist

“With tender vulnerability and laugh-out-loud humor, Alligator Tears invites readers into the lives of America’s invisible caste: the working-class immigrants who are knocked down by systemic barrier after systemic barrier but who each day rise with pride to claim our right to exist. This book was a balm for the hunger and fear in my inner child, the loneliness and frustration in my adult self. I laughed; I cried; I read and reread beautiful wisdom that I will never forget. Edgar Gomez’s voice is one for us all.”—Qian Julie Wang, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country

“Alligator Tears is gorgeous, poignant, and raw, chock-full of hope and want and irrepressible, aching beauty. This is the kind of Florida writing that I love most: a daring, swampy slick of a collection where the humidity hangs like a hug. Edgar Gomez is a tremendous talent. I’ll read anything he writes.”—Kristen Arnett, author of With Teeth

“No one writes about the terrors of late-stage capitalism with such humor, candor, and aplomb. In every sentence, Gomez elucidates the unnecessary horrors of suffering in the American context. To our benefit (and relief), he accomplishes this feat with the wonder of a child and the wit of a satirist. Affecting and inspiring, Alligator Tears is more proof that Gomez is a writer who deserves our attention.”—Alejandro Varela, author of National Book Award finalist The Town of Babylon

“Edgar Gomez is a young writer of deep talent and enormous grace. Alligator Tears speaks for the lost tribes of ‘other,’ those who serve our food, do our taxes, and mind our children. They walk the earth among us, invisible, without a voice. I am so glad that Edgar Gomez has given them one.”—James McBride, New York Times bestselling author of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

“Triumphant . . . dazzling . . . Even as he offers a pitiless, self-aware view of life on the margins, Gomez remains funny, candid, and unfailingly stylish. This delivers a welcome jolt to the coming-of-age memoir formula.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Meticulously evoked and darkly comic. . . . Heartening. . . . This portrait of the artist as a young flip-flop salesman will inspire, amuse, and empower its audience.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review