The writer, poet, critic, and public historian Adrian De Leon discusses his new memoir Notes from a Wayward Son (Bond Street Books, 2026), with Joseph Planta.
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Notes from a Wayward Son by Adrian De Leon (Bond Street Books, 2026).
Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Notes from a Wayward Son [1] |
Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta:
I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.
When Adrian De Leon was last on the program back in February, I made mention of having just learned that he had a memoir coming out later in the spring. I said then, as a fan of his work, I was looking forward to it. I got a copy soon after, and found myself not just moved and affected by the work Notes from a Wayward Son, but I found it relatable, and not just by being the son of Filipino parents living in Canada, but having to navigate the uneasy shores of a relationship between a father and a son. Beyond relatability though, the book provides marvelous insight into the immigrant experience in Canada, the challenges of finding community in a new city, Scarborough, let alone new country, and the formative years of a son who is challenging his parents with the sort of independent thought that they instilled in him. In Adrian’s youth, his father starts a school teaching a form of martial arts. Adrian learns from his father, and soon is a teacher himself. The book also discusses the discipline, the beatings he got from his father. It’s not at all pleasant at times, but it reveals the characters that he writes about, his father and him especially, not as one-dimensional villains or anti-heroes, but as people who grow a great deal. I spoke to Adrian last week, about this rich, revelatory book. He’s candid in the book, and with me, as I wanted to learn more about him, his parents, and this story. Their lives intersect with history, migration, Philippine politics and culture, language, and religion. The book is leavened with music and artistic pursuit, like poetry. Adrian De Leon is an award-winning writer, poet, critic, and public historian. He is a professor of American and Philippine histories at New York University. His previous books include barangay: an offshore poem, Bundok: A Hinterland History of Filipino America, and Balikbayan: A History of the Filipino Homeland, which he was first on the program with in February. Visit www.adriandeleon.ca [2] for more. This new book is published by Bond Street Books. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Lineprogram, Adrian De Leon; Professor De Leon, good morning.
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