Alligator Tears

A Memoir in Essays

By: Edgar Gomez

Narrated by: Edgar Gomez

A darkly comic memoir-in-essays about the scam of the American Dream and doing whatever it takes to survive in the Sunshine State—from the award-winning author of High-Risk Homosexual

“Relatable, funny and deeply heartfelt, this memoir is one not to miss.”—Today

“Edgar Gomez is a young writer of deep talent and enormous grace.”—James McBride, New York Times bestselling author of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR: Today, The Millions, Paste

In Florida, one of the first things you’re taught as a child is that if you’re ever chased by a wild alligator, the only way to save yourself is to run away in zigzags. It’s a lesson on survival that has guided much of Edgar Gomez’s life.

Like the night his mother had a stroke while he and his brother stood frozen at the foot of her bed, afraid she’d be angry if they called for an ambulance they couldn’t afford. Gomez escaped into his mind, where he could tell himself nothing was wrong with his family. Zig. Or years later, as a broke college student, he got on his knees to put sandals on tourists’ smelly, swollen feet for minimum wage at the Flip Flop Shop. After clocking out, his crew of working-class, queer, Latinx friends changed out of their uniforms in the passenger seats of each other’s cars, speeding toward the relief they found at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. Zag. From committing a little bankruptcy fraud for the money for veneers to those days he paid his phone bill by giving massages to closeted men on vacation, back when he and his friends would Venmo each other the same emergency twenty dollars over and over. Zig. Zag. Gomez survived this way as long as his legs would carry him.

Alligator Tears is a fiercely defiant memoir-in-essays charting Gomez’s quest to claw his family out of poverty by any means necessary and exposing the archetype of the humble poor person for what it is: a scam that insists we remain quiet and servile while we wait for a prize that will always be out of reach. For those chasing the American Dream and those jaded by it, Gomez’s unforgettable story is a testament to finding love, purpose, and community on your own terms, smiling with all your fake teeth.

©2025 Edgar Gomez (P)2025 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Humorous, heartfelt, and refreshingly sincere, Alligator Tears is a meta-level how-to guide for putting words down on the page when the world would rather you not, and a raw and energetic account of coming of age as a queer Latino man on the periphery of the happiest place on Earth.”—Paste magazine

“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