Bess Press: Balikbayan: A Filipino Homecoming

"Michelle Cruz Skinner... understands the ways of humankind. Her stories are written with such simplicity that the truth they convey shines with urgency the proper reader cannot miss. Even the very short ones hardly stories have this intensity. Take A Modern Parable. Its short but deadly. The author knows her American bases in the Philippines: the bars the beggars the Philippine girls the wayward and the poor the American servicemen the colored and the white their transformation far away from home. In In the Neon City by the River Michelle Skinner reveals all these. They always stop for us from the mouth of an American serviceman sums it all up. All Souls fills me with nostalgia for a world I used to be a part of. And of course Balikbayan?the tragedy of the returning native who finds herself a stranger in her own land after a long absence. The variety of the stories impresses and delights me. Although some of the stories are pole apart they are all touched with authenticity and feeling. I think very highly of her art. - Bienvenido N. Santos author of Scent of Apples

Balikbayan is an excellent and convincing presentation of the ironies and contradictions of contemporary Philippines culture with a fine sense of character and particularly visual detail. - Ian Macmillan author of Proud Monster

These are wonderful stories and they offer rare and timeless insights into the Philippines now and in the recent past. Rare because Michelle Cruz Skinner is a born-and-raised Filipina but also an American so her vision bridges both worlds. Timeless because we are made to care for the people in these stories especially the young people and the human heart is universal. Its a remarkable accomplishment for a first book even for a clearly-talented writer. - Robert Shapard editor of Sudden Fiction

All of the stories, deep with personality if often simple in its words and description, evoke certain emotions from you as you read your way through the book. Most of them are sad or solemn in some way or another. Not only are they about Filipinos from various backgrounds�but through the backdrops and interactions of the characters within the stories you get a glimpse of the various facets and uniqueness of Filipino culture.
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- Hawaii Book Blog"