EILEEN TABIOS Engages
MODERATION by Elaine Castillo
(Viking, 2025)
I can’t recall feeling so much affection before for a book after I finished reading it. In this case, that would be Elaine Castillo’s new novel, MODERATION. I don’t just love this book; I positively adore it. If it had cheeks, I’d pinch them in an almost gigil-thrall. That’s a pretty stellar achievement for a novel that begins with a horrific scene of child pornography. Such is Castillo’s accomplishment—her reach.
Reach. It’s such a pleasure to witness intelligence. This book is intelligent. And intelligent in a wide-ranging way. At one point in my reading, I paused to consider how Castillo turned the novel into a form of philosophy made seductive.
MODERATION’s chief protagonist, Girlie, works as a moderator in social media, removing unsavory stuff from the internet. Due to her ability to withstand the worst depravity that humans try to use to trash the internet, she gets promoted with a big raise (brief aside: how awful that I have to say “promoted with a big raise” since “promoted” no longer inherently means “raise,” to the detriment of workers without which the world can’t creak to go round… anyway) to moderate virtual reality theme parks.
The writing is glorious; many times I paused to re-read a paragraph because I’m so struck by her prose. Like this:
William didn’t stop petting Mona, but Girlie saw his shoulders tense, the chords in his long, thin neck working. She’d realized something about his beauty, just now; why he wore it. Awkward kid, in his own head, no game, no charisma, too tall too early, big-minded friend. Probably only became handsome. In his mid- to late twenties, and. Had to figure out how to navigate around it, like a well-made coat he’d inherited out of the blue. He had no time-worn defiance around it, like her; hadn’t had to turn it into a weapon, grasp its hilt in both hands, lest it be used against him. She was thinking too long about his beauty. (246)
Her metaphors show how Castillo’s not wasted her intelligence. The impressively wide range of her knowledge can’t help but reveal themselves to the benefit of the novel, e,g, with fresh metaphors. Like this:
The next week, it was clear they were avoiding each other. An elegant mutual détente, agreed upon in silence. That long, strange night on the Moon had happened; but now they were back on Earth. Like astronauts who grow taller in space, spines elongating, freed from their customary compressions, each cartilage-cushioned disc finding new space—now, restored to gravity, they were contracting once more, shrunk, sore, themselves. (255)
But Castillo doesn’t just display intelligence but wit. Intelligence is admired but almost expected from someone capable of writing the wise essay collection, How to Read Now (Viking, 2022) But wit is a bonus, like this bit of slyness:
“Our parents and their generation weren’t exactly—receptive to the idea of mental illness. My own mother—” He stopped short. “Well. She’s—had some form of—what you’d call clinical depression for—since I can remember. Done nothing for it. Aunt visiting from Hong Kong once said it was a thing you only got in Britain.” (242)
I’m not entirely sure I know to what Castillo refers with that Britain dig(?); but I find it funny, and if I researched the matter I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some backing to how it got mentioned here.
Wit also aids the rhythmic excellence of her pacing. I paused at one point to marvel over the writing’s pace, in part because it improves from her first novel America is Not the Heart. This isn’t a diss at her first novel but only indicates a writer who keeps improving and it’s nice to see such. Relatedly, Castillo is great at dialogue—never a flabby word in her characters’ speechifyings—which aids her pacing.
Recalling Castillo’s first novel emphasizes another element that makes me a fan of not just this particular novel but her approach: she centers the existence of the Filipino, a group that has been considered “ignored” and/or “marginalized." Because of its strong story, MODERATION could have been as equally great a novel with a non-Filipino primary protagonist. But Castillo doesn’t just make that choice—which gives her the opportunity to introduce a parallel story of how Filipino culture (like all cultures) contain the downside of blood-based obligation—she makes the choice effortless and seamless. There’s a literarily organic rightness to how the protagonist must be Filpino and thus must bring with her the baggage—and love—of her culture.
Indeed, her nuanced exploration of utang na loob makes me wish she’d edit an anthology around that topic—it’s much needed, as evidenced by all the K- and C-dramas revolving around (the downsides of) family-related obligations.
Last but not least, we come to the ending. It could be considered predictable. But more fulsomely, it’s just plain likeable. It’s so likeable that it encourages Hollywood endings to return in vogue (besides for the genre of rom-com).
Consider this review a fulsome Salamat/Thank you to the author Elaine Castillo for writing MODERATION. If I were a Dad, I’d belaboringly add or joke: there’s nothing moderate about my appreciation. Against formidable competition from my reading habits, MODERATION looks to be my favorite of all the novels (37 as of writing this review) that I would have read in 2025. As they say, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
*****
Eileen R. Tabios has released books of poetry, fiction, art and experimental prose from publishers around the world. Recent releases include the poetry collections Engkanto in the Diaspora and Because I Love You, I Become War; a novel The Balikbayan Artist; an art monograph Drawing Six Directions; an autobiography, The Inventor: A Poet’s Transcolonial Autobiography; and a flash fiction collection Getting To One. Other books include a first novel DoveLion: A Fairy Tale for Our Times which was translated by Danton Remoto into Filipino as KalapatingLeon and two French poetry books, PRISES (Double Take) (trans. Fanny Garin) and La Vie erotique de l’art (trans. Samuel Rochery). Forthcoming in 2026 is a selected art stories collection, The Erotic Space Around Objects. Her literary inventions include the "Kapwa novel"; the hay(na)ku, a 21st century diasporic poetic form; the MDR Poetry Generator that create poems totaling theoretical infinity; the “Flooid” poetry form that’s rooted in a good deed; and the monobon poetry form based on the monostich. More information is at https://eileenrtabios.com
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