Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn

Good

Hardcover. Welcome to Manilla in the heyday of the Philippines' late, lamented dictator, when Hollywood dreams and tropical nightmares violently collide. Step by the chic Monte Vista Country Club, where -members are required to check firearms at the door. Check out the nightclubs where "shower dancers" lather op to James Brown's "Sex Machine"...er tie Neighbourhood movie theaters where teenage girls swoon over Rock Hudson and young men dream of becoming starlet Lolita Luna's leading man ... the slums of Tondo ... the mansions of Forbes Park ... the torture chambers of Camp Meditating the "jeepneys" careening around town. Radios blarring the sounds of Kool and the Gang.
This is the world of Jessica Hagedorn's Novel Dogeaters (a slang term for Filipinos). Rene, American pop culture and local tradition mix flamboyantly, and gossip, storytelling. mil extravagant behavior thrive. A vivid, wildly disparate group of characters—from movie stars to waiters. from a young junkie to the richest man in the P James become caught up in a spiral of events culminating in a beauty pageant, a film festival, and a assassination. Their story is framed by that of Ria, a feisty schoolgirl who will grow up to live in America and look back with longing on the land of her youth.