''The Man Who (Thought He) Looked Like Robert Taylor'' (1983) is a book written by
Philippine-American novelist and short story author,
Bienvenido Santos
Bienvenido N. Santos (March 22, 1911 – January 7, 1996) was a Filipino-American fiction, poetry and nonfiction writer. He was born and raised in Tondo, Manila. His family roots are originally from Lubao, Pampanga, Philippines. He lived in the ...
.
[ The title basically imparts that the protagonist of the novel lived believing that he has a semblance to his idolized American actor, Robert Taylor.][ This fiction by Santos is regarded as one of the finest examples of exceptional English-language writings about the personal, emotional, and moving experiences of Filipino migrants in America.][Nelson, Emmanuel Sampath]
"The Man Who (Thought He) Looked Like Robert Taylor"
Bienvenido Santos, Major Works and Themes, Asian American novelists: a bio-bibliographical critical sourcebook, books.google.com["The Man Who (Thought He) Looked like Robert Taylor" (1983)]
Major Works, Bienvenido Santos, enotes.com
''Section 12'', newsgroups.derkeiler.com : (...) "''The Man Who Thought He Looked Like Robert Taylor, Bienvenido N. Santos (...) These books (..) help to personalize the experience of life in America as well as provide a sample of the excellent writing (in English)''" (...), August 1, 2008
Description
The story is about a Filipino immigrant named Solomon King, a man who was born in Sulucan, a town in the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. Moving to the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, he lived by himself in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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for thirty years. While in America, although he kept mementos from his Philippine hometown, he felt alienated and ignored while surrounded by Polish people
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Cen ...
living in Chicago. Aging as he was, he decided to travel to Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
to search for earlier acquaintances. He, together with other Filipinos of his generation, became further estranged by "better educated" Filipinos he encountered along the way, adding to his bitterness in experiencing a weakening in the "spirit of ethnic unity".[Criticism from Leonard Casper]
In an essay, Casper discusses the displaced person theme in Santos's work ''The Man Who (Thought He) Looked Like Robert Taylor'', Section: Criticisms, ''The Man Who (Thought He) Looked Like Robert Taylor and "Immigration Blues"'', Bienvenido Santos, 1977, novelguide.com
Historical background
''The Man Who (Thought He) Looked Like Robert Taylor'' is a literary discourse illustrating the yearning of many Filipinos to go and reside in America despite hardships, and the "loneliness and sense of exile" they experienced while being in the United States after World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
through the 1970s.[''Immigration Blues by Bienvenido N. Santos'']
users.aber.ac.uk Among Santos's characters, apart from the men
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chro ...
, are female
Female ( symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction.
A female has larger gametes than a male. Females ...
émigrés who "were prepared to do almost anything" in order to have a better life in America.[
]
Excerpts
An excerpt from ''The Man Who (Thought He) Looked Like Robert Taylor'' is a short story[ entitled "''Immigration Blues''",][''The Man Who (Thought He) Looked Like Robert Taylor and "Immigration Blues"'']
The Asian Reporter's Book Reviews, asianreporter.com which became anthologized in Santos's short-story collection, ''Scent of Apples''. This short story was a recipient of a New Letters award for fiction in 1977.[
]
References
Bibliography
*Ty, Eleanor. A Filipino Prufrock in an Alien Land: Bienvenido Santos's ''The Man Who (Thought He) Looked Like Robert Taylor, Literature Interpretation Theory, 1545-5866, Volume 12, Issue 3, 2001, pages 267 – 283
{{DEFAULTSORT:Man Who Thought He Looked Like Robert Taylor
Philippine novels
1983 American novels
Philippine English-language novels
Filipino-American novels
Works by Bienvenido Santos
Novels set in Chicago
Novels set in Washington, D.C.