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Books & Magazines
Pinoy artist nominated for comics ‘Oscars’
Aug 24th
For many, the best comics may conjure images of dark, brooding superheroes and warriors. Who would have thought, however, that the story of a chicken living like a human would create enough acclaim to be considered among this year’s best?
And one created by a Filipino komikero, at that. Gerry Alanguilan’s “Elmer” has been nominated for Best Graphic Album in the 2011 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award, widely considered as the “Oscars” of the comic book industry.
The Eisner Award, a celebration of the best of the comics art form established in 1987, is a much-awaited event at the Comic-Con International, the United More >
The Philippine Passion for Basketball
Nov 17th
After a tiring daylong flight to Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport, American hoops junkie Rafe Bartholomew saw something at a baggage carousel that made his heart sing. Writing in his first book, Pacific Rims — an ode to the exuberance of basketball in the Philippines — Bartholomew recalls that a tall foreigner made her way to the luggage belt only to be “denied” by a limber Filipino who “bent his knees, spread his legs, pushed his butt out and made it impossible for her to get around.” At first, Bartholomew thought, “It can’t be,” and yet it was — a classic box More >
Dream Jungle
Nov 8th
Dream Jungle
by Jessica Hagedorn
Hagedorn’s latest masterpiece described by the New York Times Book Review as “a narrative collage hopscotching from year to year, from place to place and from one point of view to another: that’s what Jessica Hagedorn offers in her intricate new novel, which boldy links a Manila millionaire’s ‘discovery’ of a Stone Age tribe on Mindanao with a filmed recreation of the Vietnam War on that same guerilla-plagued island six year later.”
I just started reading this novel and am savoring every word of it – that is why I elected to read it only on the train More >
Filipino Expat Miguel Syjuco’s Breakout Novel
May 12th
In Spanish, Ilustrado means “enlightened one.” During the 19th century, it referred to the Philippines’ Europe-educated literati, whose revolutionary ideas helped establish the foundations for Asia’s first democracy. Fast-forward 200 years: expatriate Filipino author Miguel Syjuco has put a modern spin on this dated term with his 2008 Man Asia Literary Prize–winning novel Ilustrado. Syjuco’s novel follows the exploits of a young Filipino protagonist — also named Miguel Syjuco — who returns to the Philippines and the past he left behind to investigate the death of his dissident mentor Crispin Salvador. This satire of Philippine society comes at a time when More >
