It begins with a death in Binondo that leads to a detective chase, but much awarded Charlson Ong’s novel is not your run-of-the-mill whodunit. With a cast of characters as colorful and mysterious as Chinatown, and a narrative embedded in the politics and culture of Philippine society, the novel is both compelling and rich in insight. The multi-awarded author has written two other novels and several collections of short stories. He teaches at UP and is a fellow of the UP Institute of Creative Writing.

Best Fiction, National Book Awards