Book Group 2

Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn

Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn provided our group with a lively and varied discussion on June 30, 2023. The book is set in Manila and structured as a series of scenes detailing moments in the lives of multiple characters who are sometimes known to each other and sometimes not. What these characters cannot tell us we learn from newspaper articles.

The complex structure of this novel takes the reader on a compelling journey through moments that are comic, tragic, shocking, sad, frightening and ultimately hopeful.

The main storyteller is Rio who starts her story as a child full of wonder and questions. Rio’s large family connects the reader to many strands of Filipino society. In and out of shopping centres, beauty parlours, a prison, a palace, movie theatres and luxury hotels. Rio’s Philippines is teeming with life and drama.

Everybody is looking for something. Joey, born into extreme poverty is struggling to find a way out with few resources to create change. Pucha, Rio’s cousin, looking for glamour and the good things that money can buy. Trinidad, chasing Romeo and promotion. Daisy seeking social justice and change. Alongside these characters expatriates come and go with agendas of their own. Through these many lives Hagedorn explores identity, racism and what it means to be Filipino.

It is easy to see why this book is highly acclaimed, taught in literature classes and has been adapted into a play. Perhaps not a book to be enjoyed so much as a book that resonates beyond reading.

Our group concluded that it was a thought-provoking and interesting book and rated the book 7/10

Margaret Cheng