The Son of Good Fortune

Starred review from May 4, 2020
Tenorio’s mordant and moving debut novel (after the collection Monstress) follows the travails of an undocumented Filipino immigrant mother and son. Nineteen-year-old Excel reluctantly makes the long trek back to the apartment where he grew up in Colma, Calif., from Hello City, a relaxed town of hippies and techies near the Mexican border, where he’d moved nine months earlier with his girlfriend, Sab. Excel has a debt in Hello City—$10,000, to be exact—and his only option is to ask for his old job at The Pie Who Loved Me, a restaurant where “pizza goes to die.” His mother, Maxina, a former action star, lives with Joker, Maxina’s childhood martial arts instructor and a grandfather figure to Excel. These days, Maxina makes a living scamming American men seeking obedient Filipina wives online. Excel and Maxina have had a turbulent relationship since Excel’s 10th birthday, when Maxina told him they were tago ng tago (hiding and hiding)—but with such a large debt to pay back, the pizza earnings aren’t enough, and Excel turns to Maxina for help. Written with great empathy and sly humor, Tenorio’s tale of Excel and Maxima’s gradual reconciliation takes a searing look at the ways they’ve taken care of and failed each other. This is a wonderful achievement.

May 1, 2020
An undocumented Filipino American teenager struggles to make sense of his past in order to move into the future. After spending nine months in the desert of Southern California, 19-year-old Excel Maxino ("like the spreadsheet") tries sneaking back into his old apartment via the fire escape but finds himself at the business end of a switchblade, wielded by his mother, Maxima. A former D-list star of Philippine action movies, Maxima welcomes Excel back with leftover Panda Express and doesn't ask any questions about his reappearance. Instead, she must get back to work scamming men on online dating sites to make ends meet. Though Excel doesn't volunteer the truth of his nine-month excursion, the chapters alternate between his present-day struggles to raise money and his misguided adventure to the desert oasis of Hello City, where he and his girlfriend, Sab, tried to make a life for themselves. This deceptively simple back-and-forth structure yields a rich cast of characters, who quickly populate the world and bring it to life. Gunter, a Serbian immigrant, rehires Excel at The Pie Who Loved Me, a children's pizzeria with an espionage theme, with hilarious and unfortunate results. Joker, the grandmaster who trained Maxima in martial arts, slips forbidden comic books to Excel before his unfortunate passing. While most interactions within this widening circle of relationships serve to advance the plot, a few of the roles feel a bit forced, as with Gunter's grandfather Zivko, who studies a dictionary at the pizzeria and slips words and phrases into Excel's lexicon. But the occasional diversion doesn't detract from the propulsive prose, captivating characters, and vital details of immigrant life, like the Tagalog phrase for undocumented Phillipinos, "TNT," which stands for tago ng tago: hiding and hiding. A masterfully constructed story of identity and ambition and an authentic portrait of one unforgettable Filipino family.

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May 15, 2020
Tenorio, author of the short-story collection Monstress (2012), the San Francisco Chronicle's Book of the Year, is back with a highly anticipated debut novel. Excel seems like a normal Filipino American teenager, but he's got a big secret. He and his highly unconventional mother?a former B-movie actress turned online scammer, are "tago ng tago": "hiding and hiding." The fact that they are undocumented means that, despite his best efforts, he will never be a "normal" American teenager. Unable to forgive his mother for the life she has forced him into, Excel escapes to the remote desert town of Hello City to live freely among the drifters, old hippies, and washed-up techies. But a disastrous misstep forces him back into his mother's house, where he must reconcile himself with the choices she made for his protection, both good and bad. Tenorio creates an unusual perspective on Filipino culture and inspires readers to reflect on what it means to be an undocumented American from birth. What it means, essentially, to not belong anywhere. A thoughtful and challenging first novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)