Life and Death: Make My Day - 15 - Enhanced Edition

About the book ＂Life and Death＂ The book opens with a hilarious and insightful account of the Batangueños, how they were molded by the Caviteños, and their most solid impact on the Filipino nation. Here Henares tells us of bald angels, of the bad luck bride who was born on Good Friday and married on Friday the 13th, and of a woman who was not satisfied with beauty and brains and wealth, and demanded that God also give her a self-righteousness the size of a baseball bat. Then he writes an essay on the certified idiot, US Vice President Dan Quayle who could not spell and says things opposite to what he means. Then again he writes a panegyric on Senator Cipriano Primicias; the political enemy of his grandfather. He does a demolition job on an obnoxious Dutchman; a piece on the Chinese cronies of Erap, one of whom beheaded a balut vendor. He executes a salute to San Miguel and a beer that tastes horse’s piss. But he reserves his most vitriolic words against the Octopus Dei in defense of Sister Christine Tan who is the object of their ire, and describes those members of the Opus Dei who drove Spain’s greatest business conglomerate to bankruptcy. The second part, This Day Of Days, demonstrates Henares’ sense of history and insights into the culture of the Filipino people. Larry celebrates the day he almost died and made medical history at Makati Med; Valentine’s Day with a stories of Great Loves that are born to die; All Saint’s Day with a compendium of saints that will surprise and delight; Father’s Day, a poetic tribute to his own father; Earth Day when God is born; the Day of Terror in New York; and the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s 7th anniversary, ＂The word made flesh and dwells among us,＂ in praise of a great newspaper.. The third part, Shadows on the Wall, deals with the memorable movies that Henares has seen and reviewed; Citizen Kane, which he considers the greatest film ever made; the Godfather series, which he placed second; Meeting Venus; Gattaca; Amistad; The Truman Story; Good Will Hunting; and the films of Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald entertwined with the love life of President Fidel Ramos and his contemporaries. --------------------------------- Dr. Hilarion M. Henares Jr., known as Larry Henares, is a graduate of Ateneo de Manila, University of the Philippines, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an engineer, economist, educator, big businessman, writer, civic leader, public servant, and hobbyist (guns, books, amateur radio and electronics). He is a writer known for his essays on economics, history, art and culture, a front page columnist in the pre-martial law Manila Times and the most widely read column in the Philippines, according to all surveys, the daily ＂Make my Day＂ in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, after the EDSA revolt. ----------------------------