As a coming-of-age narrative, Patron Saints of Nothing follows Jay Reguero’s difficult, painful evolution into a new awareness about his family, his culture, and his identity. Because the novel is narrated in first person, Jay’s perceptions, limited as they are, shape the reading of the events in the Philippines. As Jay learns, the reader learns. Although he is in his final year of high school and preparing for college, Jay is still very much a child: immature, spoiled, shallow.

At 17, Jay does not understand who he is. His worldview is limited. He is unimpressed by the opportunities of education. He finds commitment taxing. He much prefers scrolling through Facebook, mastering video games, and smoking joints. What is central to his drift is the question of his cultural identity. Born in the Philippines, Jay was brought to the United States when he only one. Save for a trip to visit his extended family when he was 10, Jay has few memories and really no understanding of his Filipino identity. Yet he does not easily fit in to the largely white, comfortably suburban world he lives in. His brief correspondence with his cousin Jun provides him the only chance to explore his hyphenated identity, his status as a Filipino-American.