Character: Essays

by Caroline S. Hau

This book offers a gallery of portraits of colorful characters, fictional and otherwise, from Rizal heroine Maria Clara to president’s mistress Dovie Beams, from tidying expert Marie Kondo to kasambahay Eudocia Tomas Pulido, plus women warriors, tiger mothers, lifestyle gurus, bestselling authors, misbehaving presidents, an outlier country called the Philippines, and a serial killer or two.

In Character, preeminent scholar and fiction writer Caroline S. Hau tests and stretches the boundaries that constitute not only a sense of nation from our corner of the world but also the essay as amorphous style.

482 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2024

About the author

Caroline S. Hau is a Professor with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), Kyoto University.

Reviews

[Derrick Tropia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was expecting creative non-fiction essays but got full blown research paper level essays. I should have researched more about the book. The cover made it look like a narrative approach to historical figures. No hate. Just was not the medium that I wanted it to be.

Love the essay on Maria Clara as well as the essay on luxury goods purchasing behavior of Japanese women.