"This is not a book of travel pieces that tell you what places to see and how to get there. It was not intended to make you take the first flight to Cebu. This is a biograph of Cebu, from multiple points of view taken by writers who were born there, or have lived there for much of their lives. Some of the stories are heartrending, some are funny, some are elegiac. But they are all engaging, richly detailed and a pleasure to read, with a memorable cast of characters--sharply remembered people drawn with such clarity that when we are late told they had died, we feel a pang of loss, and grieve. They are stories about a place that surprises us with friendly cab drivers and toothless dock laborers who glide with confidence and dignity.
On second thought, this book might have the unintended effect of making you fly to Cebur sooner than you think. But instead of behaving like confused tourists who guess their geographic location from their travel itinerary (If it's Tuesday this must be Cebu), you get a sense of where you are from a feeling of the sublime. To paraphrase poet Larry Ypil, one fo the contributors of this voluem, "If I'm writing, this must be Cebu."
-- Susan Lara - from Amzon