Brown River, White Ocean » (1st Edition)

The 31 short stories and 108 poems in this anthology represent a literary history of English writing in the Philippines, from its introduction at the turn of the century to the present. These works belong to the river of Philippine literary tradition, which includes, among others, literatures in Tagalog, Visayan, Spanish, and Ilokano. The works here contain images drawn from different social strata, different time periods, different locales. They represent the spectrum of contemporary Philippine society -- business people, doctors, soldiers, farmers, workers, slum dwellers, immigrants, artists, students. The themes are both modem and timeless -- incest, the burdens of tradition, the horrors of tyranny, exile, love. And the voices are familiar and yet touched with strangeness. In this anthology, from the earliest story, "Dead Stars, " by Paz Marquez Benitez, to Manuel Ortega Abis's recent poem "Strike, " the manifest culture is distinctly and uniquely Filipino.

Library Journal

These 31 short stories and 108 poems represent 82 authors, most of whom--with the possible exceptions of Jessica Hagedorn, Carlos Bulosan, and Jose Garcia Villa--will be unknown to American readers. The works frequently deal with universal issues of love, family, injustice, and interracial relations but explore them using Philippine customs and places, as well as words in Tagalog, Ilocano, and Spanish. Fine stories by D. Paulo Dizon (``The Beautiful Horse''), F. Sionil Jose (``Tong''), and Leoncio Deriada (``Pigpen''), and poems by Nick Joaquin, Carlos A. Angeles, and others make this anthology an excellent introduction. Recommended for general audiences.-- Kitty Chen Dean, Nassau Coll., Garden City, N.Y.