Three Filipino Women

May 4, 1992
Until now, the work of Jose, an author ( My Brother, My Executioner ), editor and head of the Manila PEN center, has been all but unavailable in the U.S. The novellas in this collection purport to explore the character of a Filipina and, by extension, the nation: Narita in ``Cadena de Amor,'' who rises to power from provincial origins; Ermi in ``Obsession,'' who leaves her career as an expensive call girl to marry a rich American; and Malu in ``Platinum,'' who dares to live up to her ideals as a political activist. More vivid than the women, however, are the men who tell their stories, hard-edged characters who take for granted the tangles of personality and sexuality permeating modern-day Manila's politics-and business-as-usual. Nontheless, each hopes for a transcendent experience with the woman who fascinates him--but cannot escape the sense of his own corruption, ``the onslaught of the malaise that had battered most of us, the dishonesty, the deceit that pervaded public life.'' Unable to connect except sexually, the men regard the women like children before a candy store, alternately tantalized and frustrated. Readers, in turn, will be tantalized by these glimpses of lives led on the margins of the elite. Jose's elegiac tone complements his narratives of the loneliness and loss that accompany disillusionment.

June 1, 1992
In these three novellas, which deal with life's harsh realities, Jose reminds us that capitalism has not solved all the world's problems. Manila could be Detroit--only worse--and familiarity with urban living does not breed contentment. Jose's heroines--a high-class prostitute, a student activist, and an ambitious young girl from the provinces--encounter power, wealth, and disillusionment. Though each is an exception to society's rules, both socially and personally, all quickly discover that love survives in a late 20th-century skin and that it is too late to salvage the past. Stringent honesty saves these stories from abject cynicism, and the clear, easy-to-read prose demonstrates how connected the world really is, both in its problems and in its possibilities. For all libraries aimed at multicultural understanding.-- Susan M. Olcott, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., Ohio

Copyright 1992 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 1992
This renowned Filipino writer is only now enjoying publication in this country. Each novella features a male narrator with a background of privilege complete with a U.S. Ivy League education. Each finds himself in love with a beautiful, unavailable woman. Although external differences are apparent--Ermi (featured in "Obsession") is a prostitute, Narita (in "Cadena de Amor") a successful political figure, and Malu ("Platinum") a spiritualist and activist--each woman exerts a cruel power over the one man who remains a constant, enduring presence in her life. Seduction and sex somehow lead to platonic impasse. The fascinating portraits found here describe Filipino life and culture, but moreover they depict sensual odysseys of unrequited love. ((Reviewed July 1992))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1992, American Library Association.)