The mystery begins with his name-Bob Ong (not his real name)
Aug 18, '08 8:37 AM
for everyone
By Ruel S. De Vera
Inquirer
First Posted 07:42am (Mla time) 07/16/2006
Published on page Q1 of the July 16, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
CONSIDER him the mass-market mystery man, a publishing phenomenon whose blockbuster book sales are equaled only by the anonymity he maintains. He is Bob Ongâ€â€ÂÂnot his real nameâ€â€ÂÂthe most unusual best-selling Filipino author you’ve never met.
Here is what can be proven about the enigmatic Mr. Ong: he has written five books, “ABNKKBSNPLAko?!,†“Bakit Baliktad Magbasa ng Libro Ang Mga Pilipino?,†“Ang Paboritong Libro ni Hudas,†“Alamat ng Gubat†and “Stainless Longganisa,†all of which have a combined sales of almost a quarter million.
His defunct Bobong Pinoy website received a People’s Choice Philippine Web Award for Weird/Humor in 1998. His books are a favorite among Filipinos of all classes and among studentsâ€â€ÂÂeven if they’re not required reading. He has never appeared at any book launching, not even his own, nor on TV.
That Ong has achieved such success in an age when celebrity is often a requisite of effective marketing is indicative of his following. But the fact that he has successfully kept his true identity a secret is even more astounding.
“Even those who know who he is won’t admit that they do,†says Nida Gatus, Ong’s editor at the publisher Visual Print Enterprises. VPE and Ong himself are fiercely protective of that anonymity. Ong only communicates through the Internet. No phone interviews. No photographs. No personal appearances. Ever.
At one time, it was rumored that award-winning poet Paolo Manalo is the real Bob Ong. The literary editor at the Philippines Free Press who teaches literature at the University of the Philippines denies this. “I’m flattered that people think I’m Bob Ong but I’m not him,†he says.
Manalo, who actually ran a “Who is Bob Ong?†contest on his blog, offers his view on why Ong is so popular: “Bob Ong is able to articulate the concerns and attitudes of a generation of students who are aware of the very real and absurd contradictions in the world they live in. He writes with the same casual and ironic tone that made his writings on the old website accessible and popular to Filipino readers. The materials he used in his books are those familiar to this generation of Filipinos. One might even call them urban culture lore.†(more)
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