Troubled Cesar leaves his gangbanging life behind
in Los Angeles to help his mother reconnect with
her estranged family in rural Alaska, where she
hopes they both can carve out a fresh start. When
Cesar arrives, he meets his college dropout cousin,
Go-Boy, who believes he's part of a good world
conspiracy and who bets Cesar he will stay in
Alaska for a year.
Sometimes We're Always Real Same-Same is the
account of two unlikely cousins and their parallel
journeys through guilt and loneliness into the
bonds of friendship. Set in a location like no other,
the setting inevitably becomes its own character,
pushing and pulling against Cesar and Go-boy as
they struggle with the quirky challenges of life in
Unalakleet, Alaska. With his absent father and an
older brother in prison for a gang murder, Cesar
is badly in need of a male role-model and the
acceptance of friends and family.
In his insightful and thoroughly engaging debut,
Mattox Roesch has created a fresh, appealing
voice along with a wonderful cast of characters.
Sometimes We're Always Real Same-Same tells
the surprising story of a young man finding his way
and his place in a world that can seem both too
large and too small. What Cesar finally discovers is
the power of friendship and the potential positive
strength that springs from a tight-knit community.
He learns the ways in which becoming a part of that
community, though at times scary and restrictive,
can also be fulfilling and even exhilarating.
