Matadora
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This vivid, incisive, feminist debut skewers Filipina American gender roles with its delightful sense of humor.Library JournalThis first volume by a Filipina American writer gets off to an inauspicious start: a prose poem written mostly in Tagalog, a few words of English sprinkled in each paragraph, is followed by a polemical piece contrasting life in America with that in the Philippines. More impressive are the prose poems scattered throughout the first two sections, where Gambito, who has been published in the Iowa Review, employs a cryptic, staccato style that implies much more than meets the eye. Prefacing each section with a quote from Hemingway's Death in the Afternoon and seemingly responding from the viewpoint of the titular Matadora (the feminized matador) the book has a premise that, when it works, provides a fascinating counterpart to the machismo stance that Hemingway personified. Unfortunately, the narrator's cutting female voice does not emerge from a cloud of surreal, nonsyntactical wordplay until the third and final section. Recommended for women's studies collections and larger public libraries. Rochelle Ratner, formerly with Soho Weekly News Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Paloma loves3Family day5Blackberrying7Paloma's light journal, February 12th8Scene : a loom9Paloma's church in America10Fear11The women of Tagaytay gather at the edge of the lustrous river and see the spirit of God in a white bird12Numerology13Frequently the beach for me16Grief god17The glitter lamb21Paloma's light journal, January 2nd22The daily bride23Paloma's light journal, May 8th25Scene : rainbow26Hope is longer than time27New York (radio edit)28New York (sweet and sour sauce)29Paloma and I admire the neon lights30Providence31My parting gift story32Dyads34Sonogram35A black horse has come to your sleep36Untitled371001 nights40Dear elation, soothing wetbar41Batgirl43Angel 544Dear elation, there is something else you didn't know45Scene : this is your country49Scene : this is still your country50Scene : Rufina de los Reyes fails to return51Paloma, because I love her52War after war53Of my fury54How to make your daughter an American55How to make your daughter an American (again)56Paloma's light journal, June 6th57New York (fairest of 10,000 remix)58Asian-American food poem59Shrewd and beautiful is my New York60Passage61Scene : yours, time : yours63
