For more information about the One Book, One San Diego program, including a list of events around the 2014 selections for adults, teens and kids, visit www.kpbs.org/onebook. This discussion guide was created by Lysley Tenorio.
Genre: Fiction—short stories
Themes:
• Individual destiny and familial duty
• Definitions of beauty
• Immigration—relocation and dislocation
• The clash and meld of American and Filipino cultures
• Pop culture
Setting(s):
• California/America
• The Philippines
Discussion question: How are these landscapes portrayed? As emotional landscapes, what do they represent to the characters in these stories?
Literary Strategies:
• Use of first person point of view
• Use of third person point of view (“Save the I-Hotel”)
• Reflective narration (narrator looking back on the past, as in “Help,” and “L’amour, CA”)
• Present tense narration (“Superassassin,” “The View From Culion,” “The Brothers”)
