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Necessary Contexts: Essays for Our Times
Rosario Garcellano's elegant essays show what reportage on people, events, and places can be like when written as literature.
This is New Journalism at its finest.
—RANDY DAVID
professor emeritus of sociology, University of the Philippines Diliman
columnist, Philippine Daily Inquirer
In 1991, Rosario Garcellano published a collection of her essays and newspaper articles in a book titled "Mean Streets." She described it then as "a distinct effort to gather stray words and pull everything together in a more or less cohesive whole: an acknowledgement of the necessity of coming to terms with one's work, with the output of the years, generally written with one eye on the clock." With this new book, she has done it again. The difference is the maturity of the author's vision, and the stark reality of our even meaner streets.
Most people know Chato as the veteran journalist of several magazines and broadsheets, a career culminating in many years with the Philippine Daily Inquirer. What they perhaps forget is that she is also a remarkable prose stylist. Both the astute, hard-hitting journalist and the consummate stylist are on ample display in "Necessary Contexts."
In her Introduction to her new book, Chato writes: "...I wonder at the point of gathering past commentary and early words in this era of speed-of-light (or close to it) access." Here I must protest: That speed is precisely the point of doing so. Journalism-on-the-run sometimes falls short of even accuracy. Rarely does it offer true insight. But works like "Necessary Contexts" do not just transform reportage into history. They also transform it into literature.
—CRISTINA PANTOJA HIDALGO
director, Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies, University of Santo Tomas
professor emeritus, University of the Philippines Diliman
This is New Journalism at its finest.
—RANDY DAVID
professor emeritus of sociology, University of the Philippines Diliman
columnist, Philippine Daily Inquirer
In 1991, Rosario Garcellano published a collection of her essays and newspaper articles in a book titled "Mean Streets." She described it then as "a distinct effort to gather stray words and pull everything together in a more or less cohesive whole: an acknowledgement of the necessity of coming to terms with one's work, with the output of the years, generally written with one eye on the clock." With this new book, she has done it again. The difference is the maturity of the author's vision, and the stark reality of our even meaner streets.
Most people know Chato as the veteran journalist of several magazines and broadsheets, a career culminating in many years with the Philippine Daily Inquirer. What they perhaps forget is that she is also a remarkable prose stylist. Both the astute, hard-hitting journalist and the consummate stylist are on ample display in "Necessary Contexts."
In her Introduction to her new book, Chato writes: "...I wonder at the point of gathering past commentary and early words in this era of speed-of-light (or close to it) access." Here I must protest: That speed is precisely the point of doing so. Journalism-on-the-run sometimes falls short of even accuracy. Rarely does it offer true insight. But works like "Necessary Contexts" do not just transform reportage into history. They also transform it into literature.
—CRISTINA PANTOJA HIDALGO
director, Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies, University of Santo Tomas
professor emeritus, University of the Philippines Diliman
220 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2022
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June 22, 2026
I honestly find the early pages of the book difficult to appreciate, probably because I’ve been trying to detach myself from this country’s ugly politics recently. Still, I really enjoyed how sarcastic the columns are, which is rare to see nowadays—probably because you need to be incredibly sharp to pull it off. The chapters featuring her travelogues and obituaries, though, are where Ma’am Chato truly shines.
I’m lucky to have been edited by her a few times back when I was still with the Inquirer. I knew it was her “invisible hand” that made those legendary Inquirer editorials possible, but I had no idea how brilliant she really was until this book. The prose, the command of language—everything was so mindfully put together. I wish more journalists get the chance to work with her, because even just in the way she conducts herself is already a masterclass in itself.
I’m lucky to have been edited by her a few times back when I was still with the Inquirer. I knew it was her “invisible hand” that made those legendary Inquirer editorials possible, but I had no idea how brilliant she really was until this book. The prose, the command of language—everything was so mindfully put together. I wish more journalists get the chance to work with her, because even just in the way she conducts herself is already a masterclass in itself.
Displaying 1 of 1 review