Do You Take RJ as Your Marriage Guide? I Do or I Die.
Monday, November 9, 2009
 To describe RJ Ledesma's I Do or Die! RJ Ledesma's Imaginary Guide to Getting Married and Other Man-made Disasters (As told to him by his Yaya) is easy- just put yourself in a teenage Joey's shoes as he's being egged on by his buds to introduce himself to the girl of his dreams Jenny, armed with nothing but courage from a carbonated orange drink. Then fast forward to 10 years later when they're about to get married and instead of his best buds it's Jenny's entire clan egging Joey to sign an ironclad pre-nup. Following the success of his first book Lies My Yaya Should Have Told Me, RJ Ledesma's Imaginary Guide To Whine and Women, the 80's pop culture icon, unforgettable hawker of orange soda, college instructor, brand manager, yoga teacher, television host, newspaper columnist and Editor-in-Chief of UNO Magazine, now takes on the role of love guru as he shares his unique philosophy on the humorous perils of Pinoys falling in love and getting hitched. With chapters that unapologetically reveal how highly-strung husbands-to-be unravel under the pressures of marriage - from planning an epic proposal, staging covert bachelor parties to pamanhikan survival tips - RJ's candor makes even the most familiar ridiculously funny. And in his most humble the Pogi from Parallel Universe says that 'in fact, the most interesting thing that I can write about is human relationships, because it's something that everyone can relate to'. Who isn't acquainted with the Pinay bridezilla who's planned her wedding dress down to the last sequin since she was five? The groom who's wedding to-do's only include showing up at church, saying I do and paying the whole thing? And how about the father-of-the-bride whose genetic make-up include lie detector machine parts? However what's more interesting is in between talks of wedded bliss (and miss), RJ manages to temper tha chaos with commentaries on politics, celebrities, and the overall nuttiness of Pinoys that has his creative writing professor in De La Salle University Dr. Isagani Cruz, Palanca Award Hall of Famer, green with envy as he says with pride that one of his prized students has accomplished to create in this book 'a set of lovely essays bordening on creative nonfiction, classic comedy, and - to use the word - literature'. But in I Do or die! RJ Ledesma's Imaginary Guide To Getting Married and Other Man-made Disasters ( As told to him by his Yaya), RJ writes of a more important L word - Love. A love that can only be articulated by helplessly writing your beloved's presence in the expanse of a page until a broken heart remains nothing but a figure of speech - at least according to his Yaya. I Do or I Die is now available at National Bookstore and Powerbooks nationwide. For those based abroad, you can also order the book directly from Anvil Publishing: http://www.anvilpublishing.com/bookdetails.php?id=2009000091. For more details, please visit www.rjledesma.net. |
