The Sons of El Rey

“An affecting exploration of masculinity, familial and cultural inheritance, and the ways that love can be hidden and revealed.”
—THE NEW YORKER

“One cannot help but be drawn into The Sons of El Rey. Alex Espinoza has drawn rich, fascinating characters and offers a detailed picture of Mexico at a politically turbulent time and Los Angeles at key moments in its recent history. In his novel, lucha libre is not only a cultural phenomenon, it is also a powerful metaphor for masculine power as a mask covering complex feelings of inadequacy. Through the rich family saga he has created, Espinosa also explores various forms of male love: paternal, companionate, and erotic.”
—NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS

"Full of powerful unfolding revelations, The Sons of El Rey has claimed its title as the great American lucha libre novel."
—CAROLYN KELLOGG, Pittsburgh-Post Gazette 

“The seamlessly interwoven story lines bring each character to vivid life, and Espinoza shines in the lucha libre scenes... This is a knockout.”
 —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“Tender and revelatory… Espinoza's prose hits with raw emotional power.”
 —SHELF AWARENESS

“From rural Mexico to Ajusco, the outskirts of Mexico City to Los Angeles, their stories unfold in surprising ways.”
—BOOKLIST

“With shocks of truth and tenderness on every page, The Sons of El Rey is a masterful exploration of a family reckoning with its most sacred secrets. Mesmerizing and unflinching, Espinoza's luchadores will wrestle their way deep into your heart. An absolute knockout of a novel.”
 —Patricia Engel, New York Times bestselling author of Infinite Country 

"The Sons of El Rey pinned me to the mat with its compelling and moving tale of a multigenerational luchador dynasty. Espinoza delivers a deceptively profound unmasking of the human heart."
 —Antoine Wilson, author of Mouth to Mouth

“This warm, engaging, and endearing jaunt through the world of lucha libre joyfully grapples and body-slams its way across borders and decades. The Sons of El Rey is classic Alex Espinoza: a smart and smooth novel that pulls you into its big, rich, and human world. “
—Héctor Tobar, author of Our Migrant Souls and the NYT-bestselling Deep Down Dark

“The Sons of El Rey has costume and swagger and performance—fantastically so—but beneath that, it’s a novel about being a mortal, complicated being in a world less generous even than the Lucha Libre arena. Alex Espinoza has written a story that feels both compact and epic about the many lives we live in the secret cloak of our own skin.”
—Ramona Ausubel, author of The Last Animal

“Before the glam drama of drag queens, there existed the flamboyant reign of kings like El Rey, an underdog transformed into a superhero. This is the story of a lucha libre dynasty that battles with ghosts and regrets, heroes and humiliations. It is as much the chronicle of a dying Mexican patriarch as it is about his gay grandson, both hiding behind stoic masks. Ultimately, it is a tale about that country called desire.”
—Sandra Cisneros, award-winning and bestselling author of The House on Mango Street

“Espinoza has written an epic and transporting novel that follows one family but tells the story of many. This braided epic brims with heart, intelligence, and humor. It's also sexy as hell. The lives of the Vega dynasty twist, turn, and ultimately interlock in a manner that expertly mirrors the grappling bodies of the luchadores depicted here.”
—Alejandro Varela, National Book Award finalist and author of The Town of Babylon  

“A triumph that’s gripping to the end! This moving tale set in the world of lucha libre unfolds across time, geography and gender, as voices both living and in the spirit world gather around the deathbed of Ernesto Vega, a luchador who fought under the name El Rey Coyote.”
—Janet Fitch, bestselling author of White Oleander and The Revolution of Marina M.

"Alex Espinoza writes with singular grace, humor and deep empathy for his characters who journey between Mexico and California to make new lives, to ache for the past even while tasting the future on their tongues. In The Sons of El Rey, he's given us a powerful sweep of three generations of dreamers through the story of lucha libre as legend, historia and tradition. This family is unforgettable."
—Susan Straight, National Book Award finalist and author of Mecca 

"Alex Espinoza's extraordinary new novel unveils a complex world of men thwarting destiny, or getting yoked by it. In language as unsparing as the characters he depicts, The Sons of El Rey is about herculean endurance in the ring, on the streets, at work, in bed, everywhere. It's a rare look at the suffocations and thrills of toxic masculinity told with bravura, tenderness, and great beauty."
—Cristina García, National Book Award finalist and author of Dreaming in Cuban and Vanishing Maps