Antonio Gargazulio Duarte lives in Manila, but his parents decide to send him to America to live with his sister and brother-in-law. Among friends, he goes by the name Bong Bong. Distraught about leaving his dear friend Frisquito behind, he promises to write frequently. Bong Bong holds some apprehensions about living in the U.S. with his sister because there's some animosity between them. She thinks he's gay, but the readers never find out whether she's right or not.
He's met at the airport in San Francisco by his Carmen and her husband Pochoy. Immediately he can tell that Carmen's embarrassed to be with him. She wants to be a high fashion model, so she's constantly worrying about reputation. Unhappy with his new home, Bong Bong writes Frisquito constantly. He believes everyone around him is lying, telling hateful stories about him to make him think that he's crazy. This lasting paranoia significantly hinders his ability to find work. Although he wants more than anything to become an actor, he has no college degree nor marketable works skills. His parents send him a monthly allowance, believing that he is attending college, but he doesn't.
Bong Bong meets a girl named Charmaine one night in a bar. She buys him his favorite drink, and they start to flirt. Eventually he goes home with her, but he freezes up in bed and they go to sleep. The two start a daily rendezvous, but Bong Bong is spending all his money on her.
To please his sister, he finally enrolls at a local college where he studies the culinary arts. He enjoys school for a while and seems content for once since his move. Then Carmen gets pregnant. She wants him to move out as soon as possible so that she and Pochoy can focus on their expected child. Consequently Bong Bong moves in with Charmaine. They don't co-habitate well, however, because of his affinity for reading. Charmaine is jealous of his attention, constantly nagging him to put his books down and talk with her.
Around this time, Fresquito stops replying to Bong Bong's letters. Bong Bong misses him intensely and starts to drift further and further into a psychotic state. As she notices him giving way to his paranoia, Charmaine stops worrying about him and starts accusing him of being insane. She thinks he's a schizophrenic. Finally, one night he sleeps with Charmaine. This is the first time they have sex because he was never able to perform before now. And the next morning she leaves him.
After Charmaine's departure, Bong Bong feels at peace. He loses the distinction between dreams and reality. He feels like every waking moment is no different from the memory of his dreams. In his final letter to Frisquito, he neglects to sign his name at the bottom. His friend long ago having stopped responding, Bong Bong figures he's lost himself. He no longer knows who he is. Although unstated, this ending implies that he truly has had some sort of mental breakdown, no doubt triggered by his constant abandonment by the people upon whom he relied.
