All the Conspirators - Softcover

Bulosan, Carlos

Softcover

ISBN 10: 029598497X ISBN 13: 9780295984971

Publisher: University of Washington Press, 2005

Synopsis

In this mystery thriller set at the end of World War II, American Gar Stanley returns to his native Philippines to help his childhood sweetheart locate her missing husband in the wake of a Japanese ambush. With Clem's ring as his only clue, Gar moves from the nightclubs of Manila to the mountains of Baguio, from mansions to hovels, bordellos to churches. He pursues and is pursued by bankers, matrons, hoboes, warriors, and thugs. Gar quickly realizes that no one is who they seem in this war-ravaged country. He must move quickly to stay ahead of the deadly conspirators before they silence his friend.

Bulosan's purposely mysterious authorship is illuminated in the thought-provoking introduction by Caroline S. Hau and Benedict Anderson. The short story "The Filipino Houseboy," also included in this volume, helps to establish Bulosan as the author of All the Conspirators.

About this title

About the Author:

Carlos Bulosan , author of America Is in the Heart, was a passionate spokesperson for the more than 60,000 Filipinos who migrated to the United States in the early decades of the twentieth century; he died in Seattle in 1954.

From Booklist:

Call it Filipino-noir. Finally seeing the light of day more than half a century after its author's death, this novel tells the story of Gar Stanley, a Filipino American ex-GI who returns home to the Philippines to help his former girlfriend track down her missing (and presumed dead) husband. The only clue: the missing man's ring, which turned up recently in a jewelry shop in Manila. Trying to trace the ring back to its owner, Gar moves through the seedy underbelly of the war-torn country, meeting up with an assortment of characters who might have stepped out of a novel by Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett: the seductive lounge singer; the suspiciously nice guy who turns up just when he's needed; the shady informant (who might be played by a Filipino Peter Lorre). Bulosan, a Filipino American who wrote poetry and fiction that spoke to and about his people, is certainly due for a posthumous resurgence; this novel might just be the ticket. The book also includes a short story, "The Filipino Houseboy," that helps to prove Bulosan's authorship of the novel (which had been vaguely in dispute since the manuscript surfaced several years ago). David Pitt
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About this edition

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 029598497X
• ISBN 13: 9780295984971
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192