"As sharp and fast as a street boy's razor . . . a rich small feast of a book."--The New York Times Book Review

Welcome to Manila in the turbulent period of the Philippines' late dictator. It is a world in which American pop culture and local Filipino tradition mix flamboyantly, and gossip, storytelling, and extravagant behavior thrive.
A wildly disparate group of characters--from movie stars to waiters, from a young junkie to the richest man in the Philippines--becomes caught up in a spiral of events culminating in a beauty pageant, a film festival, and an assassination. In the center of this maelstrom is Rio, a feisty schoolgirl who will grow up to live in America and look back with longing on the land of her youth.
"Entertaining and compelling. . . . At the end, you emerge from its intense, dreamlike world feeling as if you've been to the Philippines."--The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Hagedorn transcends social strata, gender, culture, and politics in this exuberant, witty, and telling portrait of Philippine society."--The San Diego Union