DogeatersPart One: Coconut Palace
Love Letters
The King of Coconuts
The White Bouquet
Mister Heartbreak
Jungle Chronicle
His Mother, the Whore
Floating Bodies
Serenade
Tsismis
Sprikitik
Her Eminent Ascent into Heaven
President William McKinley Addresses a Delegation of Methodist
Churchmen, 1898
Heroin
Her Mother, Rita Hayworth
High Society
Surrender
Avila Arrested in Human Rights Rally Dispute
Sleeping Beauty
One Christmas in a Mountain Lodge up in Baguio, Date Unknown
Epiphany
Breaking Spells
In the Artist's House
Excerpt from the Only Letter Ever Written by Clarita Avila
Jungle Chronicle
Part Two: The Song of Bullets
The President's Wife Has a Dream
Man with a Mission
Romeo Rosales
Paradise
The Weeping Bride
Last Chance
Dateline Manila
Movie Star
Golf
Insect Bounty
Hunger
Redemption
Jungle Chronicle
The Famine of Dreams
Bananas and the Republic
Terrain
Luna Moth
Pucha Gonzaga
Kundiman
Jessica Hagedorn was born and raised in the Philippines and came to the United States in her early teens. Her novels include Toxicology, Dream Jungle, The Gangster Of Love, and Dogeaters, winner of the American Book Award and a finalist for the National Book Award. She is also the author of Danger And Beauty, a collection of poetry and prose, and the editor of three anthologies: Manila Noir, Charlie Chan Is Dead: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction and Charlie Chan Is Dead 2: At Home In The World.
Praise for Dogeaters:
“Hagedorn unwaveringly paints a menacing world, one that should
sound an urgent alarm to us now—but the book is so beautiful! It’s
painted in the shimmering, fierce, lush colors of memory and
longing; it has the radiant evanescence of a dream—and it leaves
behind the lingering authority of a dream’s veiled warning.”
—The New York Review of Books
“A surrealistically hip epic of Manila . . . Combines narrative
drive with a lyric sensibility.”
—The San Francisco Chronicle
“As sharp and fast as a street boy’s razor . . . a rich small feast
of a book.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Dogeaters erupts from its pages, 50 percent voluptuous fever
dream, 50 percent heart-stopping nightmare, 100 percent reality.
The hallucinatory vision of this colonial world—the crucible of the
innocent, the rapacious, the collaborators, the oblivious, the
martyred—feels flawless, irrefutable. Hagedorn writes with
exhilarating stylistic dexterity, deep compassion, humor that
ranges from gentle and affectionate to fire-breathing, and immense
grace. The book is every bit as astonishing as it was when it
first appeared thirty years ago, and unfortunately much more
pertinent—a piercing warning signal, now that we have installed a
deranged and brutal pseudo-populist dictator in our own
country.”
—Deborah Eisenberg, author of Your Duck is My Duck
“Possibly the most brutally, hilariously accurate portrait of
post-colonial Jamaica I’ve ever read. And it’s a novel about the
Philippines.”
—Marlon James, author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf
“Unquestionably a classic, Dogeaters is a tour-de-force that
remains as relevant and revelatory as it did when it first
gut-punched the literary industry 30 years ago. Its restless prose,
its collisions of peoples, cultures, and histories, and its
resolute memory-keepers, such as Rio, have much left to say about
our troubled times.”
—Rigoberto González, author of The Book of Ruin
“Jessica Hagedorn has been an inspiration to me for nearly thirty
years, ever since I read Dogeaters. It is as remarkable now as it
was then, an original, raw, and wild novel that has held its power
and demands to be read.”
—Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of The Sympathizer
“A shimmering, ferocious, funny, campy, disturbing, violent,
benevolent, dazzling beast of a tale. Dogeaters was a joy to read
the first time, but rereading it today made me realize Jessica
Hagedorn is the divine mother goddess of novelists.”
—Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street
“Dogeaters is a fine achievement on a very serious scale . . . This
is the definitive novel of the encounter between the Philippines
and America and their history of mutual illusion, antagonism, and
ambiguous affection. It is a rich and satisfying work and certainly
among the best novels I have read this year.”
—Robert Stone, author of Dog Soldiers
“I still vividly remember when Dogeaters came out—it was instantly
and rightfully hailed a groundbreaking American classic. Jessica
Hagedorn has shaped our ways of understanding modern America and
reading American literature. Her Dogeaters is indelible, and
indispensable in the American canon.”
—Gina Apostol, author of Insurrecto
“Mixing real-life ghouls with phantoms from the past . .
. Hagedorn captured that mixture of love, laughter and sadness
that stirs in every Filipino's heart. [Dogeaters] is a mournful,
obsessive ballad about Filipino lives left in postcolonial
disarray.”
—Randy Gener, The New York Times
“[Dogeaters] secur[ed] Hagedorn’s reputation as an important voice
in Asian American letters. The narrative style impressed
readers as well as critics: a multiple-character point of view that
wove American pop icons into the Filipino cultural fabric, it
illuminated the chaotic and wondrous post-colonial Manila of the
1950s.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books
“No nonfiction book is likely to capture the cultural psychosis of
the Phillippines nearly as well as this exceptiona novel about
growing up there.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“Entertaining and compelling. . . . At the end, you emerge from its
intense, dreamlike world feeling as if you’ve been to the
Philippines.”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Hagedorn transcends social strata, gender, culture, and politics
in this exuberant, witty, and telling portrait of Philippine
society.”
—The San Diego Union
“A tour-de-force debut . . . A kaleidoscopic view of Manila
society—high and low—in which sad and sordid realities are tempered
by humor and immense vitality . . . A spicy stew of a novel.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“The book succeeds on the strength of its characterization . .
. Hagedorn's unflinching view of Manila . . . is leavened by
ironic, often humorous observations.”
—Publishers Weekly
Born and raised in the Philippines, poet and playwright Hagedorn sets her first novel in the volatile political climate of that country's recent past. Although in many respects a thinly disguised roman a clef , the book succeeds on the strength of its characterization. Hagedorn ( Dangerous Music ) weaves together the immature impressions of Rio Gonzaga, a spunky well-to-do Manilan schoolgirl whose life is influenced as much by the movies and radio serials as the tsismis (gossip) of her large extended family, with the voices of Joey, a popular DJ and male prostitute; Rainer, a world-weary German film director being honored with a retrospective; and the Philippine's astonishingly candid First Lady, addressed only as Madame, among others. Hagedorn's unflinching view of Manila, encompassing child prostitution, the torture chambers and the slums, as well as the palatial quarters of the First Family, is leavened by ironic, often humorous observations. When the popular opposition leader is slain, each of the characters is directly affected; for some it is a moral awakening, for others the beginning of the end of a stranglehold on power. (Mar.)
Praise for Dogeaters:
"Hagedorn unwaveringly paints a menacing world, one that should
sound an urgent alarm to us now-but the book is so beautiful! It's
painted in the shimmering, fierce, lush colors of memory and
longing; it has the radiant evanescence of a dream-and it leaves
behind the lingering authority of a dream's veiled warning."
-The New York Review of Books
"A surrealistically hip epic of Manila . . . Combines narrative
drive with a lyric sensibility."
-The San Francisco Chronicle
"As sharp and fast as a street boy's razor . . . a rich small feast
of a book."
-The New York Times Book Review
"Dogeaters erupts from its pages, 50 percent voluptuous fever
dream, 50 percent heart-stopping nightmare, 100 percent reality.
The hallucinatory vision of this colonial world-the crucible of the
innocent, the rapacious, the collaborators, the oblivious, the
martyred-feels flawless, irrefutable. Hagedorn writes with
exhilarating stylistic dexterity, deep compassion, humor that
ranges from gentle and affectionate to fire-breathing, and immense
grace. The book is every bit as astonishing as it was when it first
appeared thirty years ago, and unfortunately much more pertinent-a
piercing warning signal, now that we have installed a deranged and
brutal pseudo-populist dictator in our own country."
-Deborah Eisenberg, author of Your Duck is My Duck
"Possibly the most brutally, hilariously accurate portrait of
post-colonial Jamaica I've ever read. And it's a novel about the
Philippines."
-Marlon James, author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf
"Unquestionably a classic, Dogeaters is a tour-de-force that
remains as relevant and revelatory as it did when it first
gut-punched the literary industry 30 years ago. Its restless prose,
its collisions of peoples, cultures, and histories, and its
resolute memory-keepers, such as Rio, have much left to say about
our troubled times."
-Rigoberto Gonzalez, author of The Book of Ruin
"Jessica Hagedorn has been an inspiration to me for nearly thirty
years, ever since I read Dogeaters. It is as remarkable now as it
was then, an original, raw, and wild novel that has held its power
and demands to be read."
-Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of The Sympathizer
"A shimmering, ferocious, funny, campy, disturbing, violent,
benevolent, dazzling beast of a tale. Dogeaters was a joy to read
the first time, but rereading it today made me realize Jessica
Hagedorn is the divine mother goddess of novelists."
-Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street
"Dogeaters is a fine achievement on a very serious scale .
. . This is the definitive novel of the encounter between the
Philippines and America and their history of mutual illusion,
antagonism, and ambiguous affection. It is a rich and satisfying
work and certainly among the best novels I have read this
year."
-Robert Stone, author of Dog Soldiers
"I still vividly remember when Dogeaters came out-it was instantly
and rightfully hailed a groundbreaking American classic. Jessica
Hagedorn has shaped our ways of understanding modern America and
reading American literature. Her Dogeaters is indelible, and
indispensable in the American canon."
-Gina Apostol, author of Insurrecto
"Mixing real-life ghouls with phantoms from the past . . . Hagedorn
captured that mixture of love, laughter and sadness that stirs in
every Filipino's heart. [Dogeaters] is a mournful,
obsessive ballad about Filipino lives left in postcolonial
disarray."
-Randy Gener, The New York Times
"[Dogeaters] secur[ed] Hagedorn's reputation as an
important voice in Asian American letters. The narrative style
impressed readers as well as critics: a multiple-character point of
view that wove American pop icons into the Filipino cultural
fabric, it illuminated the chaotic and wondrous post-colonial
Manila of the 1950s."
-Los Angeles Review of Books
"No nonfiction book is likely to capture the cultural psychosis of
the Phillippines nearly as well as this exceptiona novel about
growing up there."
-Entertainment Weekly
"Entertaining and compelling. . . . At the end, you emerge from its
intense, dreamlike world feeling as if you've been to the
Philippines."
-The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Hagedorn transcends social strata, gender, culture, and politics
in this exuberant, witty, and telling portrait of Philippine
society."
-The San Diego Union
"A tour-de-force debut . . . A kaleidoscopic view of Manila
society-high and low-in which sad and sordid realities are tempered
by humor and immense vitality . . . A spicy stew of a novel."
-Kirkus Reviews
"The book succeeds on the strength of its characterization . . .
Hagedorn's unflinching view of Manila . . . is leavened by ironic,
often humorous observations."
-Publishers
Weekly
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