Thrumming with energy and at once critical and hopeful, The Son of Good Fortune is a big-hearted debut novel following an undocumented Filipino son as he navigates his relationship with his mother, an uncertain future, and the place he calls home.
Monstress introduces a bold new writer who explores the clash and meld of disparate cultures. In the National Magazine Award-nominated title story, a has-been movie director and his reluctant leading lady travel from Manila to Hollywood for one last chance at stardom, unaware of what they truly stand to lose. In "Felix Starro," a famous Filipino faith healer and his grandson conduct an illicit business in San Francisco, though each has his own plans for their earnings. And after the Beatles reject an invitation from Imelda Marcos for a Royal Command Performance, an aging bachelor attempts to defend her honor by recruiting his three nephews to attack the group at the Manila International Airport in "Help." Lysley Tenorio reveals the lives of people on the outside looking in with rare skill, humor, and deep understanding, in stories framed by tense, fascinating dichotomies—tenderness and power, the fantastical and the realistic, the familiar and the strange. Breathtakingly original, Monstress marks the arrival of a singular new voice in American fiction.
In these two tales of contemporary Filipino-American life in California, adapted by Philip Kan Gotanda and Sean San José from the acclaimed collection of short stories by San Francisco author Lysley Tenorio, a vibrant array of characters strive for personal transformations that are seemingly impossible, wonderfully moving, and distinctly theatrical.
The infamous headline-making eviction of Filipino residents from San Francisco’s International Hotel in the 1970s sets the background for Philip Kan Gotanda’s stirring Save the I-Hotel, which illuminates the dangers of love that crosses forbidden territories. Sean San José’s retelling of the title story “Monstress” moves us from the streets of Manila to the Bay Area, where a B-movie director has been seduced by the opportunity to work with a shady American filmmaker. An evening of song and story about love and family, hope and indifference, triumph and failure, Monstress explores the resilience of a community struggling to find a home in the ever-shifting sands of the American dream.
Director: Carey Perloff
