Ninotchka Rosca

Five noted writers and thinkers profile five of the world's leaders. For some of us, these leaders are heroes; for others, villains; for all of us--strongmen. We're edging towards a new kind of global fascism driven by aggression and strident nationalism. In this energetic, focused book, a group of five accomplished writers confronts five would-be dictators. American playwright Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues) burrows beneath the skin of Donald Trump. Danish Husain, Indian storyteller and actor, finds himself recounting the story not only of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but also of the ascension of the extremism of the Sangh Parivar. Burhan S nmez, Turkish novelist, ferrets about amidst the bewildering career of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Lara Vapnyar, Russian-American novelist and journalist, ponders the Stalinist origins of the Supreme Leader of All the Russias. Ninotchka Rosca, Filipina feminist novelist, unravels the macho world of Rodrigo Duterte. These essays do not presume to be neutral. They are by partisan thinkers, magical writers, people who see not only the monsters but also a future beyond the ghouls. A future that is necessary. The present is too painful.

An endless festival amidst an endless war is the central image of this novel of the Philippines of the time of Marcos. Three young people seek relief from the suffocating repression and brutality of the Dictatorship by joining an ancient festival in the island of K----. They find instead that the war has followed them and that the festival is but a metaphor for an entire society and culture in conflict. The three find distinct destinies of death, liberation, affirmation and ultimately, salvation. This book is now considered a classic of Philippine literature.