Landing With a Thud

To Read or Not to Read

By David Haldane

August 18, 2025

The silence was deafening.

“So,” the master-of-ceremonies asked the audience at my first book launch on Siargao Island, “are there any questions?”

Not a hand went up.

“Surely,” the now visibly nervous young man coaxed, “there must be something you’re curious about? You have the author right here to ask.”

Still no takers as his mild disquiet slowly blossomed into full-blown panic. Then, a young woman came to the rescue. “I have a question,” Cristil Manuba said. She’s married to my wife’s cousin and—affectionately known to us as Lalay—had just delivered the program’s heartfelt closing remarks. “What is it about your experiences here,” Lalay wanted to know, “that makes you feel the most emotional?”

I swear, I could have kissed her. Instead, I puckered my face into a look of deep reflection and slowly began to speak. In truth, I can’t remember a word of what I said. What I do remember clearly, however, is my immense relief when the single-question-and-answer session gave way to what came next.

Which happened to be the much-touted ritualistic signing of books. Bottom line: I sold and signed exactly one, to a close friend to whom I’d gladly have gifted it for free. And proclaimed a silent “Hail Mary” when the awkward moment slid mercifully into what everyone had really come for: the lavish meal, music, and dance honoring my lovely wife’s 43^rd birthday.

In truth, the simultaneous book launch/birthday party had been her idea, one for which I am thoroughly grateful. The new book, Dark Skies, is a recounting of my expat Philippine life in the form of personal essays. Several of which, in fact, are set right at Magpupungko Beach where the launch took place on my wife’s property near the place of her birth.

So, reading them to a local crowd, I assumed, might gain some traction. The stories I read included one describing our early days at the beach sans comfort rooms, the cock-a-doodle-doo account of my first cockfight, and a sentimental retelling of our 2018 renewal of wedding vows on another beach nearby.

The lukewarm reception took be my surprise.

Ah, but then came the party, full of laughter, camaraderie, and fun. And sometime the next day I realized what had gone wrong: absolutely nothing! In a word, well, it was just the culture, baby.

My wife once told me that her father has read one book in his life: the Holy Bible. That doesn’t mean he’s stupid. A rice and coconut farmer by trade, he was born and spent most of his life right here in the deep provinces where reading books was not considered a thing of much value.

Especially those articulating the perceptions of a crazy foreigner. I mean, who cares what someone like that thinks of a cockfight in the jungle? And because my father-in-law’s provincial attitude still prevails on much of the island, there’s not an enormous market there for books by anyone other than God.

The younger generations are changing things a bit. My wife is a perfect example, as is my 19-year-old niece, Cherry, who’s read (and even claims to have enjoyed) a few of my books. And I will, of course, be forever grateful to Lalay, a professional digital creator who, I suspect, represents the future.

But I’ve also learned a valuable lesson: for now, anyway, if you want to sell books, go to Manila, Cebu, New York, or California. Not that I’ve sold many in any of those places either, but, hey, the dream never dies.

As for the deep provinces of the Philippines, I think there it’s more about showing up to celebrate someone’s accomplishment, even if it’s of little use. Because Siargao Island is better suited for experiencing stories in the present than for reading about them after the fact. A reality which, to be completely honest, suits me just fine.

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David Haldane is an award-winning American journalist and author with homes in Southern California and Northern Mindanao. His latest book, Dark Skies: Tales of Turbulence in Paradise, was recently voted #1 on Goodreads Listopia of Best American Memoirs. This column appears weekly in The Manila Times.