"Wonderful...a book that connects us to the global story of ourselves." -Sandra Cisneros

In this beautifully written, highly original work, John Phillip Santos- the author of Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation-creates a virtuosic meditation on ancestry and origins. Weaving together a poetic mix of family remembrance, personal odyssey, conquest history, and magical realism, Santos recounts his quest to find the missing chronicle of his mother's family, who arrived in southern Texas in the 1620s. As Santos traces their roots to northern Spain, he re-imagines the way we think about identity. The result is a uniquely engaging adventure in the frontier between self and family, past and present, at a time when breakthroughs in genetics are changing our window on history.
John Phillip Santos, born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, is the first Mexican American Rhodes Scholar whose awards include the Academy of American Poets' Prize at Notre Dame and the Oxford Prize for fiction. His articles on Latino culture have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and the San Antonio Express-News. Writer and producer of more than forty television documentaries for CBS-TV and PBS-TV, two of them Emmy nominees, he lives in New York City.

View titles by John Phillip Santos

About

"Wonderful...a book that connects us to the global story of ourselves." -Sandra Cisneros

In this beautifully written, highly original work, John Phillip Santos- the author of Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation-creates a virtuosic meditation on ancestry and origins. Weaving together a poetic mix of family remembrance, personal odyssey, conquest history, and magical realism, Santos recounts his quest to find the missing chronicle of his mother's family, who arrived in southern Texas in the 1620s. As Santos traces their roots to northern Spain, he re-imagines the way we think about identity. The result is a uniquely engaging adventure in the frontier between self and family, past and present, at a time when breakthroughs in genetics are changing our window on history.

Author

John Phillip Santos, born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, is the first Mexican American Rhodes Scholar whose awards include the Academy of American Poets' Prize at Notre Dame and the Oxford Prize for fiction. His articles on Latino culture have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and the San Antonio Express-News. Writer and producer of more than forty television documentaries for CBS-TV and PBS-TV, two of them Emmy nominees, he lives in New York City.

View titles by John Phillip Santos

Three Penguin Random House Authors Win Pulitzer Prizes

On Monday, May 5, three Penguin Random House authors were honored with a Pulitzer Prize. Established in 1917, the Pulitzer Prizes are the most prestigious awards in American letters. To date, PRH has 143 Pulitzer Prize winners, including William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Josh Steinbeck, Ron Chernow, Anne Applebaum, Colson Whitehead, and many more. Take a look at our 2025 Pulitzer Prize

Read more

Books for LGBTQIA+ Pride Month

In June we celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual + (LGBTQIA+) Pride Month, which honors the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. Pride Month is a time to both celebrate the accomplishments of those in the LGBTQ+ community and recognize the ongoing struggles faced by many across the world who wish to live

Read more