The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos (FORTHCOMING)

This book will be released on July 11, 2023.

On July 11, 2023, at 6:30 pm local time, please join author Rodrigo Restrepo Montoya at PALABRAS BILINGUAL BOOKSTORE for the official book launch of The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos!
Location: 906 W Roosevelt St. Unit 2 Phoenix, AZ 85007
Event information will be available here: palabrasbookstore.com/event/2023-07

"Meditative and direct, Restrepo Montoya’s prose illuminates truths so clearly you can see straight through them to the world around you, and even into yourself. Prescient and timeless, dealing with the inseparability of life and decay, this story, through it all, allowed me to sit deeply with love, family, and forgiveness. Pay attention, a refreshingly honest and singular voice has arrived."
—Dantiel W. Moniz, author of Milk Blood Heat

"The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos is a debut so deeply felt, so effortlessly human, it feels like we've known Gregorio all of our lives. A slyly funny, slyly somber novel about family, heritage and the burden of finding a home in America. By turns playful and profound, familiar and new, The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos is brilliant and Restrepo Montoya a natural and gifted storyteller."
—Mark Haber, author of Saint Sebastian's Abyss and Reinhardt's Garden

"The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos is a testament to the beauty and searing heartbreak of learning and becoming. Montoya's prose is sincere and inviting, allowing the reader to feel every line. One of my favorites of the year."
—Gary Lovely, Prologue Bookshop

Entrancing and sentimental, told with wit and sharp insight, The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos examines the joys and traumas of the Latinx American experience through the lens of a young man awakening to the nuances of identity, love, colonization, and home.

As Gregorio recovers from a soccer injury, he relives a decisive period of his life when he is eighteen and adrift. His parents are divorcing, his sister is estranged, and his poor goalkeeping has just cost his soccer team their most important game of the season. As a graduation present, Gregorio’s defiant uncle Nico takes him to Colombia, where he is introduced to old friends, family memories, and a culture ailing after years of conflict and colonization. When they return, Gregorio follows in his uncle’s footsteps and pursues employment at an art museum in Washington, D.C., where he moves into the basement of a townhouse owned by Magdalena, a Basque exile he befriends. As the year wends on and anti-immigrant rhetoric reaches an apex, Gregorio notes the disparities in his community while struggling to define his own identity and direction. Gregorio joins his friend Raúl’s soccer team, resuming his role as goalkeeper, seeking purpose and redemption.

The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos is a compassionate story of benevolence, memory, and preservation that considers what has been lost, what must never be forgotten, and our collective responsibility to one another. Poetic and thoughtful, Rodrigo Restrepo Montoya has given us an unforgettable voice in Gregorio Pasos: astute, charming, and illuminating.

"The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos is a testament to the beauty and searing heartbreak of learning and becoming. Montoya's prose is sincere and inviting, allowing the reader to feel every line. One of my favorites of the year."
—Gary Lovely, Prologue Bookshop

"Meditative and direct, Restrepo Montoya’s prose illuminates truths so clearly you can see straight through them to the world around you, and even into yourself. Prescient and timeless, dealing with the inseparability of life and decay, this story, through it all, allowed me to sit deeply with love, family, and forgiveness. Pay attention, a refreshingly honest and singular voice has arrived."
—Dantiel W. Moniz, author of Milk Blood Heat

"The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos is a debut so deeply felt, so effortlessly human, it feels like we've known Gregorio all of our lives. A slyly funny, slyly somber novel about family, heritage and the burden of finding a home in America. By turns playful and profound, familiar and new, The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos is brilliant and Restrepo Montoya a natural and gifted storyteller."
—Mark Haber, author of Saint Sebastian's Abyss and Reinhardt's Garden

BOOK CLUB & READER GUIDE: Questions and Topics for Discussion

Click here to view and/or download the The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos reader guide as a PDF.

[Link will be live by July 1st!]

Rodrigo Restrepo Montoya is a Colombian American writer living and working in Tucson, Arizona. His writing has appeared in Triangle House Review, Joyland, X-R-A-Y, and SPECTRA. The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos (Two Dollar Radio, 2023) is his debut novel.

Visit the Rodrigo Restrepo Montoya author page for additional details and interviews.
Visit Rodrigo Restrepo Montoya's author website.

Coming soon!

TERRITORY: World
FORMAT: Paperback (1st printing with gatefold)
LIST PRICE: $17.95
PAGES: 170
PRINT ISBN: 9781953387332
DIGITAL ISBN: 9781953387349
RELEASE DATE: 7/11/2023
SIZE: 5.5" x 7.5"

Printed in Canada by Marquis, with the following environmental statement:
*Printed on Rolland Enviro. This paper contains 100% post-consumer fiber, is manufactured using renewable energy - Biogas and processed chlorine free.
*FSC certified paper (inside and cover).