“An original, raw, and wild novel that has held its power and demands to be read.” —Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer
Finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction and Winner of the American Book Award
A classic and influential story—often considered “the quintessential Filipino American novel” (The Nation)—centered on the cultural and political stakes of life in Marcos-era Philippines
One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years
Welcome to Manila in the turbulent period of the Philippines’ late dictator. It is a world in which American pop culture and local Filipino tradition mix flamboyantly, and gossip, storytelling, and extravagant behavior thrive.
A wildly disparate group of characters—including movie stars and waiters, a young junkie and the richest man in the Philippines—becomes ensnared in a spiral of events culminating in a beauty pageant, a film festival, and an assassination. At the center of this maelstrom is Rio, a feisty schoolgirl who will grow up to live in America and look back with longing on the land of her youth.
- ISBN10 014014904X
- ISBN13 9780140149043
- Publish Date 1 July 1991
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 30 January 2010
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 272
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780140149043