Sins

by F. Sionil Jose

  ningas cogon Famous Filipino expression denoting enthusiasm that dies quickly, like cogon grass that burns quickly in the dry season.

  poulownia A very expensive rare wood used for furniture.

  Also by F. Síoníl José

  Short Stories

  THE GOD STEALER AND OTHER STORIES

  WAYWAYA: ELEVEN FILIPINO SHORT STORIES

  PLATINUM: TEN FILIPINO STORIES

  OLVIDON AND OTHER SHORT STORIES

  Novellas

  THREE FILIPINO WOMEN

  Novels

  PO-ON

  TREE

  MY BROTHER, MY EXECUTIONER

  THE PRETENDERS

  MASS

  VIAJERO

  ERMITA

  GAGAMBA

  Verse

  QUESTIONS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  With the publication of Three Filipino Women by Random House in 1992, the work of F. Sionil José began appearing in the United States. He is one of the major literary voices of Asia and the Pacific, but (after encouragement by Malcolm Cowley and others) his novels and stories are only now gradually being published in the country that figures in much of his work as both a shadow and yet a very real presence.

  José (widely known as “Frankie”) runs a leading bookshop in Manila, was the founding president of the Philippines PEN Center, publishes the journal Solidarity, and is best known for the five novels comprising the highly regarded Rosales Saga (Po-On; Tree; My Brother, My Executioner; The Pretenders; and Mass), which are being prepared for publication in America. He is widely published around the world and travels steadily.