“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

Jessica Hagedorn is the recipient of The Before Columbus Foundation’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award


A classic and influential story 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.
  • WINNER
    Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Award
© David Shankbone
Jessica Hagedorn is the author of the novels Dogeaters and The Gangster of Love, Dream Jungle, and a collection of poetry and short fiction, Danger and Beauty. View titles by Jessica Hagedorn

About

“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

Jessica Hagedorn is the recipient of The Before Columbus Foundation’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award


A classic and influential story 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.

Awards

  • WINNER
    Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Award

Author

© David Shankbone
Jessica Hagedorn is the author of the novels Dogeaters and The Gangster of Love, Dream Jungle, and a collection of poetry and short fiction, Danger and Beauty. View titles by Jessica Hagedorn