Don't Blink

A collection of short stories that includes two Carlos Palanca Award winners, one Philippines Free Press Award winner, and more, 'Don't Blink' spans two decades of wordcraft. JB Lazarte draws from bottomless wells where hope and heartbreak, desire and subversion, the rapture and the apocalypse present a stark tapestry of how it is to be human, to be a Filipino, in these interesting times. And yet, in the end, one finds a certain redeeming grace in all this drama: as the main character in "Describe the Rapture" realizes upon gazing at the spectacle of his own failure, that "It's all beautiful in an odd sort of way. Like unrequited love."But be forewarned. Read the stories with your heart on your palm, with wide open eyes, unblinking.