Return to Eastwind Books of Berkeley

When Bert and I used to visit Thane in the late 90's, we used to make our rounds at the various bookstores around Berkeley (some of which are now defunct) like Cody's, Moe's, Pegasus, and my favorite, Eastwind Books.

This bookstore's niche is strictly books that are related to all things Asian and Asian American, and for my own collections....Filipino American.  Along with the Asian American Curriculum Project (AACP) in San Mateo, and Arkipelago Books in San Francisco's SoMa, this is one of the few bookstores in the U.S. with an Asian-centric focus...

Eastwind is where I used to get my copies of the UC Berkeley Filipino American literary magazine, maganda (which means "beautiful" and yes the publication is meant to be lowercase). Well, Thane used to buy them for me in the late 90's when Cal was a major hotbed of political activism for young Filipino Americans. Several of my former students went here (as well as to SFSU) during those times and were transformed into social activists.

I wasn't looking for anything in particular when we visited, but we couldn't pass up a visit to Eastwind.

There are so many resources here such as books on politics, language, travel, poetry, literature as it applies to many of the major ethnic groups (Japanese American, Chinese American, Asian American in general, and of course, Filipino American)...

I leafed through the poetry book, "Souvenir" (seen below), written by a young Pinay, Aimee Suzara. Although I didn't get her book that day, I'm highly considering getting it later on amazon.

From Suzara's website:
The book is about a Filipino American woman who "encounters narratives of her history - from the "living exhibits of Filipinos int he 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis to the migration of her family across seas and continents to the Wild West. The poems consider what souvenirs are kept as histories are buried, found, and reinvented."

I have a few of the volumes on this shelf: "The Philippine Temptation - Dialectics of Philippines-U.S. Literary Relations" is one, along with Yen Le Espiritu's "Filipino American Lives", which focused on Filipino Americans in San Diego was released in 1995.  Dr. Espiritu is a UCSD Professor, a Vietnamese married to a Filipino. I know some of the people interviewed in that volume. Incidentally, I was interviewed for her 2nd book on Filipino Americans in San Diego, "Homebound - Filipino American Lives Across Cultures, Communities and Countries" (they used combo'd fake names so my real name is not in the book). The gray volume on the left is a classic and  a "must read" for any student majoring in Asian American studies, "America is in the Heart" by Carlos Bulosan.

While I had a lot of the novels and poetry collections here...I found one that I didn't have yet.

"All the Conspirators" was my lone purchase that day (I had great restraint), a mystery thriller long thought lost but recently resurfaced and attributed to Carlos Bulosan.

Just my luck as well because everything was 20% off that day. Later that afternoon there would be a talk and book signing by local author, Philip Choy, featuring his new book, "San Francisco Chinatown" (a guide to its history and architecture).

Last visit to Eastwind Books:
2009

Eastwind Books of Berkeley
2066 University Ave
Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 548-2350

www.asiabookcenter.com

Just a few doors down was our actual destination...