A Filipino “Fashion Terrorist” in New York and Guantanamo
From The Memoirs Of A Non-Enemy Combatant by Alex Gilvarry is a sharp and wickedly readable novel about the craziness of post-9/11 America—with a Filipino protagonist. FIM (Fashion Institute of Makati) graduate Boyet Ruben Hernandez arrives in New York in September 2002 with the intention of setting the fashion world on fire, only to be dragged out of his apartment in the dead of night and thrown into a cell in Guantanamo on suspicion of being a terrorist bomber. Among the damning pieces of evidence turned up by the Department of Homeland Security: His publicist’s name is Ben Laden. While Boy awaits trial, or at least a meeting with a lawyer, he writes down his detailed recollections of his life in America until his detention on charges that are never made clear to him.
Non-Enemy Combatant is both rollicking and teeth-gnashingly enraging—equally adept at describing a well-made dress and evoking the political climate in the US. The parts about the Philippines are less convincing, but we’re glad Gilvarry avoids the expected: there’s only a casual reference to Imelda Marcos, no one is made to eat balut as a test of fortitude, and the Pinoys are not portrayed as exotic island creatures. The fact that Boy is a heterosexual male fashion designer announces that this novel is skirting cliché. Boyet himself notes that this is not a scrappy immigrant story.
We don’t know how much time Alex Gilvarry has spent in Manila (he is half-Filipino), but we wonder if the case of the Filipino PR person who worked for Marc Jacobs in New York and had to wear an ankle monitor bracelet when his father the general was indicted on corruption charges was one of the sparks (But not an inspiration. Please.) for his novel.
From The Memoirs Of A Non-Enemy Combatant is available in the Viking hardcover edition at National Bookstores, Php995.
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February 15th, 2012 at 21:00
Binasa ko yung excerpt sa Amazon. Nakakatuwa siya! Para siyang Pinoy Gary Shteyngart. Hihintayin ko ang mass-market paperback edition.
February 23rd, 2012 at 13:35
I always get thrilled reading about Filipino characters in Western novels. (Recently read Tom Robbins’ “Half Asleep in Frog Pyjamas” and did a fistpump when I found out the protagonist is of Philippine descent.) Putting this book on my to-read list. It also has good reviews and ratings on Goodreads.