Cebu [Paperback]

Peter Bacho (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bacho's disturbing first novel updates the classic conflict between spirit and flesh in the struggles of a young Filipino-American priest. In 1983 Ben Lucero leaves his Seattle parish for the burial of his mother Remedios in her homeland, the Philippine city of Cebu. Here he learns about his mother's past from her best friend Clara, now a powerful figure in Philippine politics. The two women endured the Japanese occupation of Manila in WW II, a harrowing experience that hardened the atheist Clara while reinforcing Remedios's faith, which she passed on to the frail son she had by a Filipino-American soldier. That faith is put to the test when Ben meets Clara's seductive assistant Ellen, who helps him lose his virginity and later becomes pregnant. Ben's spiritual crisis is heightened by guilt and by the blase reactions of locals to the crucifixion-style suicide of an old man. Returning to Seattle, Ben encounters even more brutality in a surprise twist that ends Bacho's edgy, emotional novel on a tragic note.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

It's coming-of-age time in the Philippines, where a young American priest returns to bury his mother, question his faith, find his home, and fall in love. Ben Lucero first visits Cebu, his mother's hometown near Manila, when he travels there for her funeral. As a guest in the home of his wealthy and powerful Aunt Clara, he finds himself disoriented by the unfamiliarity of Filipino life--especially when confronted by the spectacle of self-inflicted crucifixion, a grisly local custom by which penitents attempt to placate the divine wrath--and overwhelmed by his sudden infatuation for Ellen, his aunt's secretary. Gradually and belatedly, Ben discovers the forces and events that shaped his family and formed the silent, unknown background of his life: the brutality of the Japanese occupation, the poverty and clannishness of Filipino life, the weird syncretism of the indigenous Catholicism, the pervasive corruption of the island authorities. He flees to the security of his native Seattle, but there he finds himself haunted by his recollections of Cebu, and impelled by circumstance to resolve the doubts he has experienced regarding his faith and identity. Bacho writes with a light touch, lending an ambiguity to his narration that can be frustrating but is more usually intriguing. His characters and situations reflect a maturity rarely found in first novels, and his ending, in its refusal to provide a simple resolution, succeeds in adding a new depth to an already-intricate construction. A sensitive--and convincing--debut. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (October 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295971320
• ISBN-13: 978-0295971322
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,391,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing read, November 8, 2000

By 

Christela B. Cabreros "Citizen of the World!" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cebu (Paperback)

This book captured my imagination and at the same time, reaffirmed my awe for older generations who have experienced and survived the bitterness of war. Having spent all of the first 18 years of my life in Cebu, I could say it captured its essence very well. Now, three years later after I left that Xanadu, I read "CEBU" and relive the memories of how most people attempted treading on that blurry line dividing blind faith and instinctive practicality without seeming to break a sweat, quite a feat for most people raised here in the U.S. This balance is especially captured by Aunt Clara, notably the most powerful character in the story, literally and figuratively. I would recommend it to almost anyone, the book gives you the freedom to relate to at least one character. Very intriguing.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting to read..., June 22, 2000

By 

Richard D. Lim (Los Angeles area, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cebu (Paperback)

Enjoyed reading this book. It does capture aspects of the Cebu and the Philippines which are very true. Having grown up in Cebu; and lived in Los Angeles for quite some time now, this book showed the big contrasts that exists. The book has a section describing the Road to Toledo; having taken that road in the 1960's, it brought back memories of how dangerous the road is. Loved the book. I highly recommend it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Perfect One-Man Boat, June 24, 1999

By 

Raymond J. Ramirez - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cebu (Paperback)

Peter Bacho beautifully articulates the emotional worlds of the deterritorialized Filipino American. With Fr. Ben Lucero's spiritual reconstruction, Bacho constantly explores and mediates between the warm comforts and cold mysteries of Philippine culture. In doing so, Bacho provides an intimate look into the distant, brash, and passionate demeanor of the Filipino psyche... If you believe 'home' stretches across the Pacific, then Cebu is a must-read.