(a book review of Twisted books)
There are writers who kvetch just for the sake
of kvetching. Then there are those who kvetch in order to hold foibles,
faux pas, and mediocrity up for scrutiny and ridicule. To the latter belong
Jessica Zafra and her series (seven to date) of Twisted books.
My fascination
with Zafra began in college when a friend introduced me to the first of
her Twisted books
(actually, a compilation in book form of her select articles which
appeared under the same column title in the broadsheet
Today.) Since then I was
hooked. The fascination extended not only to her books but (naturally)
to her column, radio talk show, and T.V. talk show Points of View. It
even came to a point when I had to take note the days in the week when
her column would appear in Today, tune in to NU 107 then
K-Lite (where she transferred
to) to listen to her radio program, stay up a little late to catch Points of View and to anticipate the release of her next book (all of the Twisted series of which I have).
Twisted are all easy, fun read. Zafra's essays are very
well-written, incisive, witty, and full of barbs. What
makes the Twisted books quite unique is the author herself. She sees the world in her own
twisted (thats why her column and books are called Twisted wink wink, nudge nudge) way, resulting into keen observations/essays which
are biting, comical, exaggerated but always filled with truths.
Zafra is
like your spinster-aunt who is all too willing to point out the
do's and dont's of life, the ironies of living, and
the what-in-the-heck-are thats. But unlike your boring, self-righteous
spinster of an aunt, Zafra tells it in a non-didactic, funny way.
The essays in Twisted cover a variety of topics.
For her choice of topics the author has this to say (which is on the
jacket blurb of her seventh book---said to be her last because she
has since stopped writing her column): My topics
usually fall under these categories: movies, books,
bizarre/infuriating/annoying current events, travel, weird theories,
house cats, and my favorite topic, myself. Often I write about nothing.
When people point this out I say, Its
postmodern! I don t know exactly what postmodernism is,
but no one else does, anyway.
Regardless of the topic of the essays, reading Twisted is very cathartic. The things that have been roiling in your mind and have long wanted to voice out but couldn't orwouldn't because you are too timid to do so are the very same things you
could read in the books. The author has said it in your behalf. In
essence, the books have vented out your innermost angsts, frustrations,
assholisms and other what not. It is the most inexpensive
psychotherapy one could have. The books themselves have prices ranging
from over a hundred to as high as a little over two hundred. How's that for a shrink?
Twisted books do not require to be read in one sitting. Since they are collections
of essays, they could be read piece by piece, like one
laughter-inducing pill at a time. They are good for readers with
attention-deficit disorder. You could read one essay while puffing a cigarette,
another essay to relieve yourself from boredom beforereading
the next chapter of your college textbook (or law books as in my case),
another one during your lunch break, another during your snack time, and
then another while waiting for your insomnia to subside. Of course
nobody could stop you if you read the entire book in one sitting just like I do and go back for a second reading some other time if you feel like it.
Despite the comical, exaggerated and hyperbolic approach of the
author in her writing, her essays/books always have revealing truths and
nuggets of wisdom in them. It is the truth in her writing that makes
the Twisted
books attractive; and it is all those fresh perspectives the books have
to offer that enticed me as a reader and perhaps the other readers as
well. Not only one wants to be entertained but also to gain new Aha! moments. After reading a Twisted book, new
ideas are infused into one's mind for which the mind is changed
and does not anymore return to its original dimensions.
One recurring theme in all of the Twisted books is the
author's purported quest for world domination. Heck, who
doesnt want world domination? I am sure even an ordinary,
Third-World Everyman has a megalomaniac gene waiting for the right
stimulus to occur. Although the reader would know that the author
herself is not taking her world-domination proposition all too
seriously, she could be so steadfast and resolute in her convictions,
arguments, and ideas that she just persuades you and reels you in. In
line with this, she even published and edited a magazine called Flip: The Official Guide to World Domination,
a magazine dedicated to the proposition that Filipinos are taking over
the world through sheer number, extreme adaptability, song and dance,
jokes, and the incredible survival skills honed by living in the
Philippines. Not only are the Twisted series a Pinoy reader's
delights, they are a well-needed boost to
Pinoy ego as well!
Just in case we feel the need to change our
system of government, Jessica Zafra is probably the dominatrix we need; and her Twisted
books would be our manifestoes.
(I found this in my journal; this was written several years ago.)
Link to the Jessica Zafra Official blog to the right side of this blog
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