The Scared Stiff

Taking a chance on books really pays off sometimes. I usually trawl through bargain bins for the occasional gem of a find, but failing that, I often end up buying a bunch of bargain books to put up in my bookmooch inventory. Sometimes though, when I look through the pile I’ve bought, I find one or two books that catch my interest, and I end up keeping them for myself. And sometimes, these obscure books I’ve never even seen or heard of before turn out to be good reads.

Tonight’s book is one of them. I got this book over a year ago (for P10!) and meant to list in on my bookmooch inventory, I happened to skim through the first few pages and changed my mind.

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Last Order sa Penguin

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A couple of years ago, some friends of mine were raving about the University of the Philippines Press publication Last Order Sa Penguin by Chris Martinez (book #113 for 2009, #19 for the Diversity Challenge – Filipino), containing the script of a play with the same title.

I don’t read a lot of plays because I prefer prose, but I was in the mood for a short, light read so I picked up this book.

Last Order Sa Penguin (roughly translated for the benefit of my international  readers: Last Order at the Penguin Cafe) is a two-act play about five friends nearing their thirties: the cheerfully gay Tuxqs, the problematic Harlene, the sex addict Tess, the social climbing Dyna, and the druggie Mario, who all meet up at the Penguin Cafe in Malate.

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