Exploding Galaxies announces the release of its seventh title: “Great Philippine Jungle Energy Café” by Alfred “Krip” A. Yuson.
Considered as a ground-breaking work of historical metafiction, Yuson’s first novel arrives in bookstores and online on September 10, nearly four decades after its first publication. The new edition features a new preface by the author and illustrations by Dumaguete artist Danilo Sollesta.
The novel follows the misadventures of fictionalized real-life Visayan revolutionary hero Pantaleon Villegas, also known as Leon Kilat. After accidentally swallowing the banana heart charm, Leon Kilat seems to experience all of Philippine history — from charging the Guardia Civil in late 1800’s Bacong, Negros Oriental to storming Malacañang Palace during Martial-Law-era Manila.
First published in 1988, Yuson’s Great Philippine Jungle Energy Café is regarded as a “tour de force,” a “magnificent novel,” and a playful flex of wit, music, and ingenuity.
The republication of Great Philippine Jungle Energy Cafe reflects Exploding Galaxies’ mission to bring significant works of Philippine literature back into circulation and into conversations with today’s readers. Yuson’s landmark novel stood out for its audacity, humor, and imaginative energy, and for the way it can still spark fresh reflection on Philippine history, culture, and creative discourse.
“I note that in these times of tumult, contemporary history appears to be racing against a placid timetable to surprise us with outrageous narratives that can only terrorize a puzzled world,” Yuson reflects in the preface. “I retain the view that on occasion, imaginative fiction must take the wilder route to turn reality into parody.”
REVOLUTIONARY HERO
Revolutionary hero Leon Kilat stars in this novel where time is collaged with myth and moviemaking. Meanwhile, Robert Aguinaldo writes the novel-within-the-novel in this landmark piece of metafiction.
Punctuated with irreverent mirth, the story unfolds when the banana heart charm drips into Leon’s giggling mouth and he is at once present and everywhere he will ever be. In between, Robert parses historical research for his grant-awarded novel.
The Jungle Café is rest stop and watering hole to the likes of José Rizal & Rimbaud & Ishmael Bernal & Sandra Dee & Maurice Arcache & Billy Ray Bates. Leon Kilat is not a regular just yet—he first has to be the bandit, the Singer salesman, the baker’s apprentice, and the revolucionario before he can wine and dine and gossip and guffaw with the old gang and Robert Aguinaldo at the Great Philippine Jungle Energy Café, dazed though he might be.
First published in 1988, Alfred A. Yuson’s first novel, Great Philippine Jungle Energy Café is a “tour de force,” a “magnificent novel,” a playful flex of wit, music, and ingenuity.
WHO IS ALFRED A. YUSON?
Alfred A. Yuson (b. 1945), nicknamed Krip, has authored over fifty books to date, including novels, poetry collections, short fiction, essays, children’s stories, biographies, travel, translation, and coffee-table books, apart from having edited various other titles, including several literary anthologies.
He has gained numerous distinctions, including the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas from UMPIL or Writers Union of the Philippines, Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan award from the City of Manila, and SEAWrite (SouthEast Asian Writers) Award from Thai royalty for lifetime achievement. He has also been elevated to the Hall of Fame of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature. He is a founding member of the Philippine Literary Arts Council (PLAC), Creative Writing Foundation, Inc. (CWF), and Manila Critics Circle, and has served as Chairman of UMPIL and as a board member of the Movie and Television Ratings and Classification Board (MTRCB).
Yuson has gained a FAMAS Award and a Catholic Mass Media Award (CMMA) for a film screenplay. He has also been a documentary filmmaker and scriptwriter, as well as an editor and designer for books, magazines, literary journals, and newspapers.He contributes a regular arts and culture column to a national broadsheet, The Philippine Star. He taught fiction and poetry at Ateneo de Manila University, where he held the Henry Lee Irwin Professorial Chair.
Starting September 10, readers can buy copies of the book through the Exploding Galaxies website, bookstores including Fully Booked, National Book Store, Mt Cloud Bookshop, and more. Also available on Shopee and Lazada.
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