'In early 1988, then Mayor Mel Lopez invited Nick Joaquin to write a popular history of Manila that young Manilans would enjoy. The city's poet laureate—whose entire body of work sings of Manila as Homer sang of Troy and Virgil of Rome—complied with a will. The first edition of Manila, My Manila (1990) was distributed exclusively to the city's schools. This hardcover gift edition finally brings Joaquin's celebration of his beloved city to readers throughout the world.'