“True to its purpose, a book should reflect the world we live in. With its lyrical narrative, this book engages its reader by reflecting on the people, their culture, and principles. It effortlessly weaved both love and agony. A story in tune with the Filipino heart and spirit.” —Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards Committee
Gitarista won the 2014 Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards for Fiction in English .
Here’s a video of me shot by author Karl de Mesa:
Here is the list of all the winners at the Filipino ReaderCon website.
REVIEWS
“The greatest achievement of Gitarista for me is its cinematic evocation of the music scene of the era.” —Rise’s review of Gitarista in his blog: In Lieu Of A Field Guide.
“The language is poetic, giving life and soul to the story. This piece itself is almost like a musical masterpiece—sound is described so vividly, readers can almost hear the music emanating from the pages.” —Best Books of 2013 by Katipunan, The Guidon’s Online Magazine
“This deserves a re-read with music.” —Maria Ella Betos Goodreads’ review of Gitarista.
“Robledo’s prose seems to be moving up and down the music chart like notes swaying swiftly to the baton of a maestro in an well-tuned philharmonic orchestra. Brilliant part.” —Doni Oliveros’ review on Goodreads.
“The journey is unforgettable, the cameos are fun, the story is interesting, and the music is sublime. Come, take a chance, and do a tango amidst these pages.”—Book Reviews by DC
“I am a non-fiction reader but I loved every minute of this roadtrip to the 70s. The story has a good heart and gives hope to those who create art on the back of heartache and joy and everything in between.”—Stephanie Honrado, painter
“I love this book! What is the essence of living your genius life without experiencing the curse of it?”—Po’s review at Goodreads
“This is the first time I’ve read something similar to lyrical prose, and Reev’s work is very much elegant and engaging as the music he creates…I used to think that people can either be a musician or a writer, but Reev has clearly demonstrated how he is equally good in both aspects.”—author Anne Plaza’s review at Goodreads
“I think the fact that it’s based on Filipino culture helped me a lot to appreciate this book. I was a bit skeptical when a friend lent this to me especially because of the kind of books I love to read (I read a lot but I’m very selective). Anyway, it surprised me that I enjoyed reading it as much as I did…”—Ermin Joseph Delos Reyes’ review at Goodreads
“I’ve read a lot of books. Some were dull, some were exciting. Some were too realistic, some were too illogical. But only a few are grand and well-written. I can say that Reev Robledo’s Gitarista is excellent historical fiction.”—journalism major Jedd de Luna’s review
TWEETS
https://twitter.com/heykebe/status/1004277083210518529
https://twitter.com/spiritnoodles/status/552702775809675265
https://instagram.com/p/9X_k1Zl1ow/
PHOTOS
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Reev 