Noel Alumit. Watch that name. LETTERS TO MONTGOMERY CLIFT is his first novel and a "wonder-full" debut it is. The story of a child (Bong/Bob) displaced from the horrors of Marcos' rule in the Philippines to Los Angeles and his subsequent journey through varying foster homes to recover his estranged parents is neatly and cleverly tied together with his self ruminations in the form of letters to his hero of movies, of heart and of love - Montgomery Clift. This technique could be banal in the hands of writers not as sensitive as Alumit, but in his hands these short notes serve as a means to delineate a child's fantasy world, a map of longing that accompanies his coming of age, a means to relate to a world gone mad and taking him with it.

Alumit wins us over by beginning this short, immensely readable novel in a light tone, creating the idea that we are embarkng on a comic, youthful fantasia. Once the characters are introduced in a way that they become photographically real, the book takes a turn toward the meat of the story. Characters enter (much as movie extras....), evolve, and find an indelible role in Bong/Bob's saga. Through these diverse people Bong begins to understand the world, to cope with his changing place, to discover his unique identity. What begins as a light tale becomes a discovery of the cruelty inherent in both the home and the world at war. Alumit succeeds to bringing his odyssey to a quasi-Hollywood finish which fits so well with the use of Montgomery Clift as his alter ego.

This is a first novel and shows passages and choices that will mature with further writing. But this is a superb little book that will hold you between its covers until you finish this profound and simple tale. Highly recommended.

Noel Alumit's novel about a young, gay Filipino boy's coming of age in Los Angeles, is an amazing odyssey into the mind of a child of the "Disappeared". It has been a while since a book made me laugh, cry, and identify the way this book did. Once I began it, it was hard to put down; I was hooked. The characters were deftly drawn, totally recognizable and real. I really cared about them. Bong Bong's search for his parents, his sexuality, his sanity and his hero, Montgomery Clift, takes the reader right along with him, into madness and out again. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a great read.

I just finished reading Letters to Montgomery Clift, and I'm glad that I was alone for the last 40 pages, as I was crying almost nonstop and would have created a scene if I'd been in a public place.
I read a lot of fictioned... so it is with a certain authority that I can say that this beautiful, sensitive, original, thought-provoking, moving book is one of the very best you will ever read.
Letters to Montgomery Clift is a story of coming out, it is a story of finding love, it is a story of family and loss and discovery.
In addition, reading this book gave me insight into Filipino culture and recent history, and the tragic repercusions of political repression/imprisonment/torture on not only its immediate victims but on their family as well. Noel Alumit's perceptive novel, like A Beautiful Mind, shows how mental illness can affect "good" people, and how those who suffer from it can eventually triumph.
Take a journey into another man's soul, into another man's heart, into another man's life...and read this brilliant and unforgettable novel!