Oral Hystery

by Siege Malvar

Read the trigger warning before you proceed. ’Yan ang banayad na alaala ng Oral Hystery ni Siege Malvar. Totoo nga sa promise.

Ang tanong, bakit kailangan natin ng mga akdang tulad nito? Dahil mahalaga ring emosyon at kognisyon ang habag at disgusto. Habag para sa mga tao at mambabasa na hindi mapag-iba ang dapat pandirihan sa kinagigiliwan. Sa mga kinikibit balikat at dapat usisain.

Tumatanggi ang akdang maging seryoso, kahit seryoso nitong tinutumbok ang palyadong compass ng ating habag at disgusto. Pag nalampasan ang trigger, saka tatalas ang reader.
— Luna Sicat Cleto

106 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2025

Reviews

[Maria Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't even know if I can make a perfect review to describe the reading experience of shit in a shitty world, and how virality and a playbook of disinformation shapes the collective psyche, or gusto na lang ba natin na mag-shutdown ang META because that US stock is just leeching off from our never ending attention span of a goldfish. Hindi ko mai-articulate nang maayos, pero sadyang kapag lumubog ka sa kaka-selpon mo, lulubog din ang brain cells mo.

Although self, pat in the back ka: good job in selling this novella! This is indeed Chuck Palahniuk's Choke in Filipino. Yun nga lang, sa ibang butas lumalabas ang dumi. Taena, tae nga. Also, instead of a newspaper-interview-circa-1979-style of Taylor Jenkins Reid's (aka TJR) Daisy Jones and the Six, Siege crafted the pages like a facebook news feed, circa 2009 (kasi walang profile picture; parang lahat sila, kakagawa lang ng fb profile way back then). It was easier to navigate, compared it to a script-like format of TJR. Instead of being bored to a long thread of lines, it felt like watching a very long KMJS segment of virality and monetization, and shaping the pop culture and polpolpolitics.

Small note on pages 47 and 48, the inflections of taenfluencer: the editor could have removed the parentheses of (Proudly) and (Derogatory), respectively. Marami kasi makaka-gets upon second read. Or maybe it stayed because more GenZ readers recently post the punchlines in socmed with these ~moods~ as ~aesthetic~.

Let me digress with a meme:
~Mahal kita at ang sakit-sakit na!
~sinaksak ang sarili
~Aray (umiyak)

I've also felt Siege's sheer hate with advertisements and targeted marketing and his frustrations of not earning dollars from his previous novel named Charged, a selponserye which is a stark contrast with Vince and Kath. Vince and Kath was a wildfire, transcended into a wattpad/pop fiction and soundtrack and movie rights, while his work created a sleeper hit, million engagements, and yet, it only birthed as a 3-part-novel (two of which are now "shelf items", considering the speed of change in the social media space.) Charged is now an artifact of the pre-pandemic and pre-AI era.

And I get the frustration. Kahit akong gustong magpasa ng manuscript sa Avenida, hindi ko pa matapos kasi kulang sa panahon. Wala rin akong stamina kasi nakakapagod maging accountant. At least ikaw Siege, nakakapag-katha man ng isang magulo at maruming kaek-ekan, pero nananawagan pa rin sa mga tao na wag maging Bobalyn at huwag lalong maging Pvblicity Media.

Naalala ko yung recent game walk through na napanood ko sa youtube: We are what we Behold. A game version of this book, sans the tae, but explain how our eyesight lures into a trendsetter, and slowly letting us go into a chaotic world we build ourselves.

Hopefully, through reading this book (and through reading as a lifestyle), we lift ourselves a bit away from the chaos we have made.

[C.L. Balagoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The government has no use for smart people.
The government needs people who eat shit.”


Ang masasabi ko lang, ang Oral Hystery ni Siege Malvar ay isang nobeletang patatawanin ka nang patatawanin hanggang sa itanong mo sa sarili mo kung dapat ka pa bang matawa/pagtawanan ang nababasa.

Minamapa ng aklat ang kasaysayan ng isang trend sa isang piksyunal na Pilipinas kung sa’n sumikat ang pagkain ng tae. Oo, ‘di ka nagkakamali ng basa, tae ang mukbang trend sa nobeletang ito. Aaminin ko, na may mga pagkakataong, nakakaramdam ako ng pagduwal sa mga nababasa pero iba ang halina ng talagang gustong isiwalat ng mga pahina. 

Binubuo ang Oral Hystery ng mga tala mula sa iba’t ibang tauhan, mula sa mga eksperto, professor, at mga content creators/influencers. Sa anyo ng transcribed interview, magagawa mong mandiri, matawa, at mamulat. Mulat, ang huli kong ginamit na salita dahil na rin sa sariling karanasan. Masasabi ko sa aklat na kaya mo itong basahin sa isang upuan, ngunit dapat kaya mong lunukin ang bawat laman ng pahina, dahil matapos mong basahin ang wakas—you will never be the same. 

Nang simulan ko ang aklat, ’di ko rin alam ang ginagawa ko, basta tawa ako nang tawa kasi natatawa ako, pero sa huling pahina, nang isarado ko ang aklat, humanga ako sa panulat ni Siege Malvar. Matalinong aklat ang Oral Hystery, napapanahon, hindi dapat palampasin. Kaya buklatin ang nobeletang ito sa susunod na makasalubong ang aklat. Mura rin ang halaga ng isang kopya (200 pesos) at ito rin ang unang handog ng bagong imprint ng 19th Avenida na may pangalang Eskenita, at isang magandang panimula ang Oral Hystery sa mga susunod pang nobeleta na paparating sa imprint.

[yoo wen · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars - okay lang, hindi ako amazed, na-enjoy naman

diring-diri ako gagi pero nagustuhan ko naman direksyon ng themes ng storya. medyo iffy ako sa part na yung mga bobo is nagtatagalog na bastos ang bibig pero ang dami-daming tatanga-tangang inglishero o mayayaman irl.

anyway, for me appropriate format/style yung interview for this para makuha ang mga perspective ng iba’t-ibang klaseng tao.

sa totoong buhay umay na umay na ako sa concept ng virality kaya agree rin naman ako sa mga pinupunto dito

[Billy Ibarra · Rating 5 out of 5]

BABALA: PUNO NG TAE NA PARANG KALSADA N'YO TUWING UMAGA

Napa-shet na malagket ako nung una kong mabasa ang nobeletang Oral Hystery ni Siege Malvar. Unang pahina pa lang, sasabihin na sa 'yo ng aklat na tungkol ito sa tae---sa pagkain ng tae. Unang ginawa ng isang vlogger/content creator, mabilis naging national phenomena ang pagkain ng tae sa Pilipinas (sinen-sationalize din kasi ng isang magazine show kaya lalo na-normalize). Mga taenfluencer! Hahaha. Pero kahit tae ang paksa ng aklat, hindi tae ang aklat, mas lalong hindi tae ang matatapakan mo rito. 

Ayon sa Datareportal, sa pagsisimula ng 2025, ay mayroon nang 97.5 milyong Pilipino ang gumagamit ng internet; 90.8 milyon dito ang social media user. Hindi na natin pag-uusapan kung ilan dito sa milyon-milyong Pilipino ang may duplicate account, ilan ang mula sa troll army, at ilang oras ang karaniwang nakokonsumo ng isang Pilipino sa social media araw-araw. Ang ipupunto lang natin ay kung paano naaapektuhan ang pang-araw-araw na pag-iisip at pamumuhay ng mga Pilipino dahil sa ipinapakain sa kanila ng kanilang news feed, ng kanilang algorithm.

Ano ang panonoorin mo kung nabuburyong ka? Good vibes video daw ng mga "influencer" o video na nagsasabing mayaman ang Pilipinas pero naghihirap ang sambayanang Pilipino? Mukbang video o kung paano magtanim ng kakainin at ano ang lagay ng agrikultura sa bansa? Video about sa break up ng dalawang artista o video na pinalalabas ang toxic na relasyon ng Pilipinas at Amerika? Sa Pilipinas na marami ang naghihirap, sa realidad, tiyak na mas uunahin ng mga Pilipino ang tumawa o tsumismis kaysa problemahin ang problema ng bayan. Dahil ito ang taeng ipinapakain sa kanila.

Golden Era ang Martial Law; the best president si Tatay Digong; sama-sama tayong babangon muli; ang cookie ni Mocha; Hep-hep? Hooray!---hindi ba tae ang lahat ng 'yan? Sino ang nagpapakain ng tae? Sino ang nakikinabang pag kumain ka ng tae? Kaninong interes ang mapapaboran? Kaninong isip ang mamangmangin? Ayaw ng gobyerno sa taong nag-iisip; ang gusto nila ay 'yong mga taong kumakain ng tae. Kaya pinapakain ka nila ng tae araw-araw kahit ayaw mo. Kahit sabihin pang kontrolado natin ang laman ng news feed natin, parang sa kalsada, lilitaw at lilitaw ang tae kung saan-saan, matatapakan, ikakaskas, hanggang sa iba naman ang makatapak. Kakalat lang ang tae. Hindi maitatago ang baho. Ambaho.

Taena, ang dami ko nang sinabi. Overreading na parang naempatso at maya't mayang natatae dahil sa dami ng kinaing ideya. Basta ang henyo nitong Oral Hystery mula sa konsepto, layout, hanggang sa pisikal na libro.

[Prin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devoured in one sitting. This is good sh*t.

[Emmzxiee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never in my entire life have I read a book that is full of sh't, literally and figuratively, until this one came. This book is on brand with its title. Siege Malvar incorporates a secret recipe that he knows readers will find engaging. Ikaw ba naman, i topic mo ang sh't at gawin itong trending. Grabe.


Maraming itinuro ang aklat na ito. Kahit manipis at maikli may mga mapupulot kang lesson lalo na sa pag iinteract natin sa mga trending na bagay sa social media. Very timely ang pagkakasulat at nakakuwa na it somehow teaches us to use social media with caution.


Malinaw ang mensahe ng libro na, "Hindi lahat ng nagtetrending kaylangan mong gayahin. "

[Aly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nirekomenda ito ng isa sa mga fina follow ko na book influencer na si obi (hi obi 😆).

Grabe ung libro na to. Ilang beses ako napatigil habang binabasa kasi parang pakiramdam ko hindi ko masisikmura ung istorya nya. Na para bang ngayon napapa isip ako, kung ung mga bagay na kinakain ko sa labas ay malinis at wala ng ingredient na nabanggit sa librong ito.

Ngunit, pwera sa bagay na iyon, nakaka mulat din ito ng kaisipan at mata patungkol sa totoong nangyayari sa ating buhay pati sa ating paligid.

"When journalists can't do better than vloggers, who remains to vanguard truth? Who do we have left to make sure the stories we get serve the truth and not personal interest?" - tama nga naman, sa panahon ngayon minsan hindi na natin alam ano ang totoo sa hindi sa mga bagay na binabalita o nilalathala ng mga journalist. Kahit nga ang mga vloggers pag nag sabi ng "review" nila patungkol sa isang pagkain, lugar or kahit ano mang bagay na pwede nila magawan ng content, hindi din naman tayo sigurado kung totoo o hindi hanggang di natin napapatunayan o nakikita. Kaya ang tanong, pag ba nag babahagi, nag babalita o naglalathala sila, para ba ito sa pansarili nilang interes? O para ba ito sa interes ng samabayan at bawat tao na nararapat?

""Ang hirap sa bansa na 'to, masyado madaming matalino." I don't know why that's a bad thing." - mapapa isip ka din, totoo nga no. Pag nag bigay ka ng kaalaman tungkol sa isang bagay, ang iisipin lang nila sayo, "ano ba yan ang yabang naman masyado; bida bida; feeling magaling/matalino." Hindi ba dapat matuwa din tayo kasi may tao o indibidwal na nais mag bigay ng kaalaman tungkol sa isang bagay. Bakit tayo nagagalit na may matalino, na may magaling. Hindi naman nila kasalanan kung bakit sila ganon, nagsikap din naman sila, nag pursigi. Kaya bakit galit tayo sa matalino?

"Smart shaming is basically people saying, "Why aren't you as stupid as us? What's wrong with you?"" - ang tanging tanong ko lang, bakit? Bakit kailangang maging tulad kami ng iba na magpapasawalang bahala nalang ng mga nangyayari sa paligid? Bakit kailangan namin maging tulad ng iba na mangmang?

Ngayon nga lang sa nangyayari sa paligid natin, pag walang ginagawa o kumikilos nagagalit tayo. Pero pag may ginawa o sinabi para maging tulong sa problema ng paligid, nagagalit din tayo. San ba talaga tayo dapat lumugar? San tayo dapat pumanig?

Isa pang bagay na kumuha ng atensyon ko, tama ang author. Na sa mundo ngayon, kung ano ang uso ito namang sasabayan ng tao. Kung ano ang bida, yun ang gagayahin ng sa ganon, maging bida din sila.

Napaka lalim ng leksyon ng libro na to. Napaka galing ng pagkakasulat. Aabangan ko ang part 2 ng libro nito. Tiyak ko na mas maganda, mas malalim, at mas nakakabukas ng mata at isipan ng bawat isa.

[Veron · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s better to open Oral Hystery without having been exposed to much of what’s inside, this novella being a less-than-an-hour read with majority of the humor and (non)humor meant to catch the reader off guard. It’s also best to do it while doing anything – literally anything – other than eating.

Oral Hystery is from Avenida Books’ eskinita imprint, meant for shorter, smaller, more experimental, and commercially cheaper books. They went strong with the experimental with their first offering. Oral Hystery is a collection of interviews discussing the social media trend of eating human feces, which in the book becomes a real phenomena done by vloggers as a challenge of sorts. It takes the format of a question and answer with relevant people to the discourse: researchers, media personalities, health experts, and the vloggers/influencers themselves. In a way, it resembles a transcript of an interview-documentary.

Malvar challenges the reader’s tolerance with the vulgar text while keeping them reading with the sheer absurdity of the book’s topic and the social commentary that runs through it. It has a surprisingly clever and broad range of points generally about the overt consumerist capitalism that goes with content creation and social media as a whole, along with its weaponization as a political tool. And to hammer down the allegory, the people and events satirically mirror real-life in the Philippines, situating everything on an unfortunately familiar landscape, and eliciting unfortunately familiar sentiments.

[Highnyzbibliofiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eat That Shit!

It’s literally disgusting — and at first glance, it may not seem like it’s written in an engaging manner.

However, this book cleverly navigates the line between its figurative and literal meanings. It delves into pressing societal issues such as the rise of information illiteracy and political idolatry. The struggle to discern critical issues becomes even harder when they’re buried beneath layers of unnecessary gimmicks and propaganda.

In a world of differing opinions, meaningful conversations are often derailed by dismissive remarks like "Ikaw na magaling" or "Di ka na mabiro." These phrases reflect the resistance to confront uncomfortable truths.

While the book may come across as witty and irreverent, reading between the lines reveals a powerful message. It urges us, as citizens, to wake up. Gising na! Let’s stop consuming garbage — and stop feeding it to others.

[ps.stillreading · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best way to read Oral Hystery by Seige Malvar is to go in blind. As in!!! A book that comes with a disclaimer? Oh we're in for a ride!

Without spoiling anything, this short book is a compilation of fictional interviews from various internet personalities and experts regarding a video content trend that went viral in the Philippines. What started out as a slightly absurd and funny subject suprisingly turned into something that struck a cord, especially with the state of the country right now. Like I started out laughing, but by the end I was tapping my finger on the lines that went hard. Imagine me internally screaming "Thiiisss!!!" while I tap the page with more and more force. Because yes, the fictional premise of the book may be absurd, but take a look at the state of our government and see how much more ridiculous (derogatory) our reality actually is. What's truly, frustratingly, and devastatingly absurd is the shit the regular people have to put up with just to survive.

[Mx. Andy Feje · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tae, ang ganda lol. Seriously tho ang effective niya for me. Habang binabasa ‘to ay na-imagine ko siya as a mockumentary. May mga times na nagga-gag ako habang nagbabasa. Hindi yun bad thing tho.

Nung nasa una-unang pages pa lang at nag-iintroduce pa lang ng characters ang fear ko, baka maging magkakatunog sila. Well, hindi.

Read it with my partner, out loud. Sabi niya pagkatapos, “bilhin natin ang part 2.”

[Jireh · Rating 4 out of 5]

didn't expect this book to be laugh-out-loud funny but i honestly found it very hilarious. maybe a bit too on the nose? then again i don't think this was meant to be subtle in any way, shape, or form. the potshot at influencers is well-deserved and apt but also maybe it's low-hanging fruit.

3.75

[Roel Cruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Needed a "drop everything and read book" and this fit the f***ing bill. I've never felt compelled to write a review on Goodreads before, but this book needs to be translated in all languages possible. ASAP.

[Lenn ♡ | anatomyofabooknerd (IG) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oral Hystery is a bold and disarming book that blurs the line between spoken word, manifesto, and cultural interrogation. Siege Malvar's voice is unapologetically sharp, funny, and biting—delivering commentary on power, colonial hangovers, and historical memory that lingers. There's rage and satire and sorrow all tangled together, but never muddled. Every page feels like it has something urgent to say—and it says it loudly, cleverly, sometimes absurdly, but always intentionally.

The book is confrontational, but in a way that makes you sit with your discomfort—it's honestly kinda gross at times (iykyk, haha). I love that it doesn't try to be digestible. Some parts left me laughing; others made me pause and reread.

This isn't a quiet collection, and it's not meant to be. It's the kind of book that rattles around in your head long after you've closed it. If you're drawn to works that challenge power structures, bend form, and make a little noise while doing it—this might be the book for you.

[Gab of Green Gables · Rating 3 out of 5]

First time kong makabasa ng libro na ganito ang format at talagang na-entertain ako.

Ang cohesive rin ng tema ng libro na umiikot sa topic ng shit pero kaakibat nito ang mga social issues na tinalakay na aking nagustuhan.

Napaisip rin ako na "shit, oo nga noh".

Looking forward sa part 2!

[yelilies]

It’s funny. It’s disgusting. And beneath it all, it’s saying something that matters.

Siege Malvar did not hold back, and neither should you. This is a book you should not miss because this is some good shit! 💩

[Alliah Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars - do not read while or after eating

who knew a book about eating literal shit would lead to commentary on social media, capitalism and filipino politics?

“the government has no use for smart people. the government needs people who eat shit”

[Miguel · Rating 3 out of 5]

And I (p)oop

[Jury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parang episode ng Black Mirror!!!

[Myrtel Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good shit.

[Nicole Sy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 ⭐️

TAEna ng libro na to. Siege Malvar really ATE with this one 😁

[Gissel Relente · Rating 5 out of 5]

💩

[Katrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

so provocative. so fun.

[Neil Franz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saks lang pero enjoyable!

[Win · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good sh*t.

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read. It was too enjoyable that it hurts once you realize how real it is.

[Ninil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tae dito tae doon higit sa lahat ay higit sa tae ang tae na to