The Holy Spirit of My Uncle’s Cojones is a sexy coming-of-age novel. It’s the summer of 1978 and sixteen-year-old Antonio “Tony” McCaugh has tried to commit suicide. Rather than hire an expensive psychologist, Tony’s mother flies him from his Appalachian father’s house to San Francisco so he can spend the summer with his womanizing, pot-smoking, peyote-eating Uncle Juan “Jack” Villalobos. Hanging out with Jack, she believes, is guaranteed to shake Tony out of his depression. Tony and Jack are soon embarked on a rollicking run for their lives in Jack’s 1967 Mustang. Their adventurous flight takes them into Mexico and refuge in the home of Jack’s true love—his ex-wife. At first embarrassed by his uncle’s flagrant Latino mannerisms, Tony soon sees Jack as much more than the macho cliché that the family legends have made of him. Jack, in turn, helps Tony come to terms with his own Latino identity, ultimately rousing his desire to live. This outrageous page turner is the first installment of a trilogy featuring Antonio “Tony” McCaugh.
