Our career diplomat, Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr., was last posted as Philippine ambassador to Italy. He is now retired and will now surprise his many friends with the release of his first novella, "Nuestro Perdido Eden." Beneath his debonair and diplomatic visage, is a superb and inquiring mind of a writer steeped in his country's history and its dysfunctional social order. "Nuestro Perdido Eden" is a delicious read, a mischievous look at the Filipino "upper crust" which, as unerringly depicted by Ambassador Reyes, is really nothing but a lot of crumbs. Some of these characters may seem familiar--people we see preening in the newspapers, but now revealed without glitter. This is a must read for Filipinos who want to know more about the ozone reaches of our society and as the book concludes, why a Duterte is necessary.
--F. Sionil Jose
National Artist for Literature

2019/114pp
bookpaper/paperback