Synopsis

Genre-defying stories from a Manila nightmare that mashes up world mythology and folklore, Filipino history and culture, and the Chinese-Filipino experienceInfinite Lives, Infinite Deaths is a collection of stories that straddle genres such as horror, magic realism, metafiction, and science fiction, while stitching together elements from world mythology and folklore, Philippine history and society, and the Chinese-Filipino experience in a nightmarish version of Manila.In Dreaming Valhalla, a family's noodle restaurant is converted into a Norse-themed girly bar that parallels the rise and destruction of the sir. A group of children take a traumatic fieldtrip in A Visit to the Exhibition of the International Committee on Children's Rights. In An Epistle and Testimony from June 13, 1604 a Spanish friar meets a Chinese convert bearing the stigmata, while in The Life and Death of Hermes Uy, a Chinese-Filipino entrepreneur opens a pharmacy in 1950s Manila, diversifying and expanding the business throughout the decades until its mysterious and abrupt closure.A professor of applied folkloristics discusses the case of a young girl who returned home as a crone a few days after her elopement in A Reply to a Query, while Where Old Whores Go to Die features a grant application assessment detailing the context and procedures that govern a concentration camp for aged prostitutes. In The Way of Those Who Stayed Behind a Chinese-Filipino expatriate returns home and uncovers a family secret, while The Lament of Philip Reyes features a failed doctor coming face-to-face with the possibilities that never materialized throughout his life.

About The Author

Douglas James Limpe Candano holds a BA in Development Studies from the Ateneo de Manila University (Development Studies Departmental Award, Loyola Schools Awards for the Arts in Fiction), and a Masters of Urban Planning degree from McGill University. His fiction has won several national level awards, including the Philippines Free Press Literary Award and the Don Carlos Memorial Award for Literature, and have been published and anthologized in numerous publications and books in the Philippines. He has also written for film and theater, co-writing Orphea, which premiered during the 2020 Berlinale, and Love is a Dog From Hell, the closing film of the 2022 Berlin Critics Week, as well as the maximalist musical Super Macho Anti Kristo! (SMAK!)- A Headless 100-Act Opera to Mend All Broken Bicycles of the Universe According to Jarry and Rizal, which had a run at Berlin's iconic Volksb hne Theater in 2022. Aside from a side career as one of the country's top competitive eaters, he works as a freelance research consultant for development programs, having worked for initiatives of bilateral and multilateral development institutions, National Government Agencies, Corporate Foundations, and Civil Society Organizations. He lives in Metro Manila.

This is a standard paperback/soft cover version.