Caroline Hau's book gave me a thorough and detailed introduction into what Philippine literature is mostly all about. While much of the book deals with the relationship between the development of national and collective consciousness to literature (thus, the appropriate title "Necessary Fictions"), Hau analyses various works of Philippine fiction replete with scholarly criticisms and thought-provoking theories.
For a Filipino student who was largely under the impression that Rizal's Noli and Fili were the only two masterpieces of Philippine literature, Hau's book was definitely an eye-opener! Her book includes studies of various authors including Kerima Polotan (think Virginia Woolf in US), Carlos Bulosan, as well as revolutionary writings by Apolinario Mabini and scholarly works of Ileto (Pasyon at Rebolusyon). Reading her book made me want to rediscover these novels for myself and really appreciate the deep and abundant literary treasure that the Philippines has to offer.

I definitely recommend this to any serious student of Philippine history and literature, as well as to those who want to challenge themselves in delving into something new.

This is one great close reading of Rizal and the nation, quite encompassing, quite 'excessive'. It enhances my understanding of Philippine literature and its 'master narrative', Rizal's "Noli me tangere."

We were being assigned to the Philippines and I browsed through all the travel books available on the country. I chose this (the first edition) because i liked the way it was written and that the writers live in the Philippines. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed! In fact i found both the information provided and the personalized descriptions of places to stay and eat very helpful. When the second edition came out i bought it and passed on my old copy to a friend. The 2nd edition has new information (unlike others that i have found are almost completely re-writes of past editions) and continues to be a more personal travel guide. I will be sorry to leave the country and this book has helped my family enjoy our travels.

I am a traveller from Madrid and was given this book as a gift by a friend from Manila. It was full of everything a traveller who is unfamiliar with an exotic country like the Philippines. When I went there with several friends last year we found the book to be extremely helpful and so accurate in detail that we had an easy time moving around, finding hotels and site-seeing areas. To the authors: thank you for a very relaxing trip to the Philippines!

A required reading for anyone interested in late 19th century Philippine history. How ironic that the pasyon--the narrative that the Spaniards used as part of the enslavement of Filipinos--is the same text that empowers the people, hence the popular movements and uprisings.

Ileto's book is a wonder and the first to ever draw parallels between Western and Southeast Asian traditions especially the practice of the Pasyon. Outwardly, the pasyon looks every bit a practice that can be deemed bizarre. Participants reenact Jesus Christ's punishment and crucifixion. Ileto enables the reader to draw insight between the practice and draw its origins from from both Western and Eastern trraditions. A must for any student of Southeast Asian studies.

The Peace Corps in the 1960's under founding Director Sargent Shriver and later under Jack Vaughn has been well chronicled in such books as "Come as You Are" by Coates Redmond, "A Moment in History" by former Deputy Director Brent Ashabranner, "The Bold Experiment" by Gerard Rice and more recently by Cobbs Hoffman's "All you Need is Love."

Less well known is the history of the Peace Corps in the 1970's when Richard Nixon tried to dismantle the agency. Recent scholarship by Professor Hoffman has shown that Nixon's Peace Corps Director Joe Blatchford fought a rear-guard action to save the Peace Corps by supporting its merger into the ill-fated Action Corps. Director Blatchford's other contributions to the Peace Corps have never been adequately recognized, among them his "New Directions" policies to re-orient the agency.

David Searles, who served three years as the country director for the Peace Corps in the Philippines, and two years at Peace Corps headquarters as a Regional Director for North Africa, Near East, Asia, and Pacific (NANEAP) and as Deputy Director under John Dellenback, provides an insider's look at the Peace Corps as well as a revisionist history of the Peace Corps in the 70's which emphasizes the political imperatives that drove many of the decisions made.

The recounting of the Action Corps' shortcomings and problems is especially timely as history repeats itself with President George W. Bush's Executive Order in February, 2002 creating the USA Freedom Corps with the Peace Corps as one of the main components.

Highly recommended.

I enjoyed the first hand experience by Searles and his family in the Philippines. A great history lesson of those times and experiences. A wonderful account of a successful business man who took to heart the words of JFK. Ask not what the country can do for you, ask what you can do for your county. P. David Searles embraced that philosphy and volunteered and moved his entire family to a different country. A first hand account of all the adventures the family had while there. JFK would have been proud.

I arrived in Chicago at 3 years old and have felt the stigma of prejudice and misunderstanding of who and what Filipino culture is about, as I slowly became who I am now. In the 70s and 80s, I felt strange emotions when I began to journey back and forth to the Philippines. I was one of the first wave of balikbayan youth to feel I had sojourned out of the mainland back to the culture in my soul, helpless in integerating who I am, because truly I have come to accept I am both. With a very strong Ilocano-Tagalog flavor in our home life in the early 70s such was my identity - both Filipina and American. My mama has few yet vivid memories of Japanese invasion in the North Ilocano region as a child, yet I myself held some confused and strong emotions hearing about the EDSA Revolution in the 80s...but did not know why, when I lived in Chicago. My point in all this? Reading the work of Cecilia Manguerra Brainard has helped me understand who I am as a Filipina and as an American. Brainard does not sound "revolutionary" and emotional like most Filipino writers think they must express. There is a softness, soothing and tenderness to the touch of her pen. No one has yet been able to penetrate the Chicago area with this understanding. Continue Ma'am Brainard, in your special gift and example. May God honor the rest of the chapters of your life experience. ~~~by Ms. Janis Ver Licuanan

I loved these essays by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard. They are straightforward, elegantly-written, and pithy. The essays reveal much of the author's experiences as an immigrant in the United States. A wonderful book by a great writer!

After visiting the Philippines a few years ago I could find enough words to tell all of the experience. This book brings the words to life. The friendliness of the people, the outstanding views. Time to plan a second trip. Watch out Caribbean here come the Philippines.

Being an expat, and for somebody who hasnt visited my homeland in almost 6 years, I was most curious in getting an updated coffeetable book about the Philippines. Stuart Naval Dee's THE PHILIPPINES REDISCOVERED (published Jan 99) is a work of love coming from a native himself, though now living in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The gorgeous pictures and some are stunning, especially an unlabeled shoot of a beach scene on page 120 wherein a very slim strip of white sand cuts diagonally along the azure sea. Simply stunning and worth a thousand words. Other pictures tell of the vivacity of the Filipino people in work and play, particularly the festival or fiesta scenes. The author and photographer wasnt afraid of showing day-to-day scenes like small fishes in a metal container fresh from a day's catch, succulent roasted pigs (lechon) on bamboo skewers, children enjoying a birthday party with messy spaghetti remnants strewn all over the table, an overloaded jeepney (the main mode of land transportation) as it prepares for its daily route, as well as the scenic vistas (the white sand beaches would make the Carribean pale in comparison) that has made the Philippines truly, The Pearl of the Orient Seas. Most dont know the true wonders of my home country and this book will lure you to visit one of Asia's bargain and truly delightful travel experience. As soon as you land in Manila, escape the hustle and bustle of the megalopolis capital (home to 11 million people) and immediately discover the islands and its friendly people. This book has truly made me homesick. Mabuhay! (Welcome and long live!)

Val Suan, Houston,TX, svaljr@ix.netcom.com

When I'm traveling, I like to have a book I can depend on. If I read that there's a ferry from A to B leaving on Sundays at 6am, then I like to know I can be sure it'll be there for me. If my travel guide tells me a hotel is clean but basic, I want to know what to expect. If it says a restaurant is excellent, I have to trust the writer's taste if I go there.

All of the above are the case with Mr Peters' book, which I've used over the years in various editions. This latest one is the best there is if you're heading for the Philippines.

This is the only guide you need to buy when you are planning a trip to the Philippines. The author is the same person who wrote the first 6 editions of Lonely Planet Philippines, which used to be the best guide on the Philippines, but if you are like so many people who are disillusioned by the 7th edition, buy this book. The book is well researched and not as biased as other guide books.

This is the best travel map I've seen for the Philippines. Very detailed, lots of information and great quality paper. It is much better than the Globetrotter map I bought earlier. Globetrotter doesn't even show the provinces of the Philippines on the map...

When traveling to new areas or countries it nice to have the best information at your hands. Thats why I like Periplus Maps. Good detailed information and inserts to help with larger metro areas. With 7107 islands, foreign names, get the information quick and easy off Periplus Travel Maps.

i read this book so many years ago, but i can still remember
how good it is. this book is not only about the underwater
world but also about the goings-on in a typical barrio in
the philippines. it has a socio-economic aspect to it that i
found quite realistic, having been born and raised in that very
same third world country. it amazed and pleased me that a
foreigner like hamilton-paterson could,quite accurately, capture
the very essence of filipino rural life---like the old woman who

he suspects isnt so aloof and taciturn as she seems
and the children of the barrio who frolick in the water and
in their humble amusements, oblivious of the shortcomings of a
third world upbringing. the book is an unusual stew of underwater
adventure and an unpatronizing account of a life among the natives.

Paterson is living on a small island in the Philippines and he is joining the natives in diving (i.e. fishing) for a living. We scuba-divers, as we only come for 1-2 week vacations, often are not experiencing the reality around our dive sites. Paterson's book was helping me understanding more of the countries I was visiting. Very instructive are his personal insights about ecology in a third world country and the connections to the economical and social structure. I found it very valuable that the insights do not follow the well known beaten paths about the third world but are rather well founded, personal observations. This makes this book a much more interesting read than any other book about the subject that I have ever read before.

I read this book this past week and I was drawn to finish it. It was not a high polish, perfectly worded book, but that it what I loved about it. It was written by a regular person about genuine and regular people. The book made me cry and feel shame about the way I have lived my life. When you read about grown men marching who have no shoes, I guess it really does not matter if I have Nikes or a regular store brand.I believe it has changed my life in some ways. He spoke of men being beaten until they begged for death, which was the only mercy they saw in their whole existence inside the prison camp- I cried again. It was a beautifully written book and I believe all people should read this.It talks of fear and love and mercy and bravery and laughter too. I highly recommend this book. If we do not remind ourselves of what we have and why we have it and remember the sacrifices that braver people than I have made- perhaps history will be doomed to repeat itself. I was told not long ago that the Doctor Hibbs passed away a few weeks ago, he was an honorable man. In my deepest heart, I salute him and am proud to have read this book.-

This book is a great way to learn about the horrors that American men went through in the Philippines during World War II. It is truely remarkable that a person could live through what the author lived through, and after the war was over, come back to the states and lead a very productive life. The book would be great for anyone interested in WW2 or anyone who wants to appreciate more what our servicemen and women did for our country.