Mga Pulang Alaala

Tungkol sa It's a Mens World (2011) ni Beverly Siy

Mala-Chicklet ang lasa ng mga kwento—refreshing. Marahil pang-alis ng lansa ng paksa ng buong koleksyon. (Malansa kaya ang regla.) At tulad ng mens, madulas at mamasa-masa ang bawat kwento. Isang babala lamang: may kalmot ng katotohanan sa bawat katapusan. Ngunit malambing naman ang kalmot. Parang kay Hello Kitty lang.

Harry Potter in Hyperspace

On Ready Player One (2012) by Ernest Cline

Boy avatar meets girl avatar while engaged in a virtual 1980s-inspired quest promising fame, fortune, and power, within a massive interactive network. Aided by an online wizard, they meet IRL to launch a global digital offensive against powerful corporate gamers, or the game could be over. Lethargic to the non-nostalgic.

Appetite for Sob Stories?

On Banana Heart Summer (2005) by Merlinda Bobis 

A Pinay maid in the US recalls her starving girlhood in a somber 1960s Third World neighborhood. She finds inspiration in the myth of the banana heart, turns to cooking for comfort, and discovers that her hunger can be appeased only in dreams. Cuisine clashing with grief can cause indigestion.

Paperback. Pasig: Anvil.

The Impersonal is Political

On Pacman: My Story of Hope, Resilience, and Never-Say-Never Determination (2010) by Manny Pacquiao 

                                                  

The story of Manny Pacquiao’s life is told, or so we are told, by Pacquiao himself, in this “personal autobiography” written (with a certain Timothy James) in exotified English. Doubt surrounds the lyrical and disembodied narrative voice, which confuses rather clarifies. Part biography, part fiction, totally shameless advertising. 

Paperback. Pasig: Anvil.