Everything We Never HadWinner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Longlisted for the National Book Award From the author of the National Book Award finalist Patron Saints of Nothing comes an emotionally charged, moving novel about four generations of Filipino American boys grappling with identity, masculinity, and their fraught father-son relationships. Watsonville, 1930. Francisco Maghabol barely ekes out a living in the fields of California. As he spends what little money he earns at dance halls and faces increasing violence from white men in town, Francisco wonders if he should’ve never left the Philippines. Stockton, 1965. Between school days full of prejudice from white students and teachers and night shifts working at his aunt’s restaurant, Emil refuses to follow in the footsteps of his labor organizer father, Francisco. He’s going to make it in this country no matter what or who he has to leave behind. Denver, 1983. Chris is determined to prove that his overbearing father, Emil, can’t control him. However, when a missed assignment on “ancestral history” sends Chris off the football team and into the library, he discovers a desire to know more about Filipino history―even if his father dismisses his interest as unamerican and unimportant. Philadelphia, 2020. Enzo struggles to keep his anxiety in check as a global pandemic breaks out and his abrasive grandfather moves in. While tensions are high between his dad and his lolo, Enzo’s daily walks with Lolo Emil have him wondering if maybe he can help bridge their decades-long rift. Told in multiple perspectives, Everything We Never Had unfolds like a beautifully crafted nesting doll, where each Maghabol boy forges his own path amid heavy family and societal expectations, passing down his flaws, values, and virtues to the next generation, until it’s up to Enzo to see how he can braid all these strands and men together. |
Contents
Section 1 | 3 |
Section 2 | 9 |
Section 3 | 16 |
Section 4 | 20 |
Section 5 | 27 |
Section 6 | 32 |
Section 7 | 38 |
Section 8 | 43 |
Section 25 | 131 |
Section 26 | 137 |
Section 27 | 143 |
Section 28 | 152 |
Section 29 | 156 |
Section 30 | 161 |
Section 31 | 174 |
Section 32 | 180 |
Section 9 | 52 |
Section 10 | 57 |
Section 11 | 65 |
Section 12 | 68 |
Section 13 | 73 |
Section 14 | 76 |
Section 15 | 80 |
Section 16 | 85 |
Section 17 | 91 |
Section 18 | 94 |
Section 19 | 98 |
Section 20 | 101 |
Section 21 | 109 |
Section 22 | 114 |
Section 23 | 123 |
Section 24 | 129 |
Section 33 | 185 |
Section 34 | 188 |
Section 35 | 192 |
Section 36 | 199 |
Section 37 | 207 |
Section 38 | 212 |
Section 39 | 218 |
Section 40 | 227 |
Section 41 | 231 |
Section 42 | 236 |
Section 43 | 247 |
Section 44 | 251 |
Section 45 | 259 |
Section 46 | 263 |
Section 47 | 265 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
American Aquino Beatriz Becs Benigno Aquino breath bunkhouse Carlos Bulosan Celestino Chris asks Chris nods Chris says Chris's Christopher cigarette dad's dance hall Delano dinner rush door Emil asks Emil's Enzo asks Enzo says Enzo's everything eyes face father feel Ferdinand Marcos fight Filipino Filipino American fists Francisco says friends girls growers hands Heart digital Ilokano Isko Julia laughs learned leave Leon listening Little Manila live Lolo Emil says looks lumpia Maghabol Mang Carlos Manong Marcos Mendoza moves murder hornets nanang never night okay Pablo parents Philippines pulls quiet remember Richard Murphy Sammy shakes his head shifts shoulder shrugs sighs silence sits smile someone sorry stay stop sure Tagalog takes talk tatang tell Thank there's things Thor Tony Dorsett trying turns Visayan voice wait walk Watsonville what's window Yeah young