A FILIPINO ON AMERICA
Chamberlin, William Henry
A Filipino On America MY BROTHER AMERICANS, by Col. Carlos P. Romulo. Doubleday, Doran. $2.50. Reviewed by William Henry Chamberlin COL. ROMULO, a dynamic, emotional, ebullient Filipino who...
...The book conveys an appreciation of the spirit of America at war, with a seasoning of temperate criticism of American failings in the field of race relations...
...He can tell a good story...
...His latest book is a series of anecdotal silhouettes of America, as seen during the hectic experience of a crowded lecture tour...
...One can easily understand the author's popularity as a lecturer...
...FUNDAMENTALLY, however, this is a rather superficial book, although it has its quota of anecdotes of lecture experiences and stories of more or less distinguished individuals...
...The author never seems to pause long enough in his restless career to think very deeply about American character, the future of the Philippines, the new Asia that will emerge after the fearful pillars of smoke that arose over Hiroshima and Nagasaki have cleared away...
...Educated in this country, he is thoroughly attuned to American moods and psychology and feels at home amid the luncheon club foolery which, as he tells us, made a fellow-lecturer from Great Britain squirm uncomfortably...
...Romulo acted as a successful evangelist and obtained the elimination of a "No Filipinos" sign in a California hotel...
...he feels a passionate sympathy for his countrymen and for the American soldiers who fought together against the first overwhelming tide of Japanese invasion, and his sense of humor is never far below the surface...
...What one gets from the book is, in the main, the staccato conversation and hurried reflections of a very hurried speaker...
...In at least one case Col...
...ROMULO, a dynamic, emotional, ebullient Filipino who lived through the tragedy of Bataan, has been one of the most popular lecturers on the American platform during recent years...
Vol. 9 • October 1945 • No. 37
