BIBLIOLEPSY

Narrator Rachel Coates captures the vitality of Primi Peregrino, a passionate booklover. The Marcos regime has brought the economy in the Philippines to its knees. Primi and her sister are orphans, yet while the world around her is in flux, Primi thinks only of books, sex, books, and more sex--preferably with a book nearby. Primi's creed is "I read, therefore, I am." Although a few pronunciation mishaps are jarring, Coates handles the fast-paced prose smoothly. While she is not as successful at delivering the humor within the novel's nonlinear structure, her characterization of Primi is appropriately high-spirited. First published in 1997, Apostol's Philippine National Book Award winner is original and filled with erotic energy. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2022]