The story of Raymundo Mata, a visually impaired member of a 19th century anti-Spanish Philippine revolutionary society, is a polyphonic whirlwind of voices and histories. Told in the form of a memoir, the novel traces Mata's childhood, his education in Manila, his love affairs, and his discovery of the writer and revolutionary, Jose Rizal. Brilliantly revised and expanded by the author for this firist edition outside the Philippines, this novel offers an intoxicating blend of fact and fiction, uncovering lost histories while building dazzling, riotous modes of narrative.