Names Above Houses

by Oliver de la Paz

In Names above Houses, Oliver de la Paz uses both prose and verse poems to create the magical realm of Fidelito Recto—a boy who wants to fly—and his family of Filipino immigrants. Fidelito’s mother, Maria Elena, tries to keep her son grounded while struggling with her own moorings. Meanwhile, Domingo, Fidelito's fisherman father, is always at sea, even when among them. From the archipelago of the Philippines to San Francisco, horizontal and vertical movements shape moments of displacement and belonging for this marginalized family. Fidelito approaches life with a sense of wonder, finding magic in the mundane and becoming increasingly uncertain whether he is in the sky or whether his feet are planted firmly on the ground.

Genres: Poetry, American

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Oliver de la Paz was born in Manila, Philippines, and raised in Ontario, Oregon. He received his MFA from Arizona State University and has taught creative writing at Arizona State University, Gettysburg College, Utica College, Western Washington University, the College of the Holy Cross, and the Low-Res MFA Program at Pacific Lutheran University. His work has appeared in journals such as Quarterly West, North American Review, Third Coast, Asian Pacific American Journal, Poetry, New England Review, Tinhouse, in the anthology Asian American Poetry: The Next Generation .and elsewhere. Names Above Houses, a book of his prose and verse, was a winner of the 2000 Crab Orchard Award Series and was published by Southern Illinois University Press in 2001. His second book,Furious Lullaby, was published in 2007 by Southern Illinois University Press. And his third book, Requiem for the Orchard won the University of Akron Prize in 2009. Additionally he authored Post Subject: A Fable and co-edited A Face to Meet the Faces: Contemporary Persona Poetry with the author Stacy Lynn Brown. His most recent book is The Boy in the Labyrinth, published by the University of Akron Press which allegorically chronicles parenting sons on the Autism Spectrum through parable, myth, and academic questionnaires.

Reviews

[Rilkepoet · Rating 4 out of 5]

What stood out for me were the striking, precise metaphors and sustained lyricism ("In his sleep, a wing flap sounds like fish riding away in the bay or the whisper of colts munching tufts of grasses.")

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely and mysterious book of prose poems. Understated, subtle. Faint hints of surrealism. My favorite is: "Manong Jose Remembers Fidelito's First Fall."

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

...thunderheads in black shoes. Such are the formalities with rain. (17)

Because that soap of her voice makes the boy sway in place like a dangled chain (27)

in the blue above, larks explode like hours following hours (28)

Again the tree, heavy with birds, moves like a lung (30)

Far away, the harbor lights close like a sequined hand. (33)

[Stars] can't resist drawing their wings back inside the storm's mouth. (34)

the stars and their shrouded eyes peer into his dry house (34)

the name, in meditation, opens in cold air like a parachute (77)

[H]

Translated, it was the odd grace.
-In the Year of the Rat

Again the tree, heavy with birds, moves like a lung.
-She Leaves the Water Running

[Cathryn Cofell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with this book and the characters in it. A beauitful novella, each poem amazing in its own right. Please, find a copy and read this!

[Michael Brockley · Rating 5 out of 5]

NAMES ABOVE HOUSES by Oliver de la Paz

A Filipino boy moves to the West Coast; he dreams of flying like a bird.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely and lyrical. The story will stick with you.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful mixing of poetry and narrative. It has the rich images of the one and the driving motion of the other. It’s certainly not the first to do that, but there’s no reason it has to be since it does it well. It’s an unusual and intriguing book regardless.

[Melissa Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A novella told in prose poems about a boy who dreams of flying. Years ago, between projects, I tried to write a novella in verse, and I found writing characters so difficult, and I abandoned the idea. For now, I remain a confessional poet, but this book gave me something beautiful to aspire to.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The poems in this collection follow Fidelito and his family from the Philippines to the United States. I enjoyed how different folk tales weave into the family story, particularly the bird imagery. De la Paz is clearly a talented poet--among my favorites in the collection are "Insects in Maria Elena's Kitchen," "Fidelito Sails over Manila," "School Years," "The Fourth Madonna," and "An Anatomy of Birds." Three and a half stars; I really did enjoy this.

Here is one of my favorite excerpts from "At Sea Domingo Learned to Steady His Hand" (Fidelito watches his father shaving):

The faucet's slurred talk: a hair the drain could not swallow, the sounds of / a wet deck's sway as sea-storms rock iron ships like empty plastic cups in / the wind.

Fidelito's father, his eyes filled with boats and sailor's boots, steadies / himself by spreading his feet wide like the stance of a man guarding a / door, like a man whose balance is turned by wave-crest and spume at the / hull side. The blade's prow cuts through the Pacific, past the mountains of / his face like a tiller, like the furrow of his boy's forehead in surprise when / Domingo cuts himself and the water in the sink blossoms.

[Patricia Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning collection of images.

Let us sing the song of duct tape and markers, the song of twine and cardboard.

Farmers make crosshairs of their hoes.

In the sink where the grease rainbows bloom.

Let stains speak no more of what they saw of sky.