Book Review: The Best of Chico, Delamar, and Gino's The Morning Rush Top Ten

I did not expect that The Morning Rush Top Ten Book 2 would be released before the start of 2013. It was only last January 2012 when Book 1 was published and now, Rushers and non-Rushers are reading the book!

What worked

It has more categories, therefore, more entries. More fun to read! It embodies pop culture that's very Pinoy. As a librarian, I see the book's relevance as a corner stone for the Filipino of this era. While social media is pop culture's sounding board, changing so rapidly every minute, the printed copy preserves this current pop culture for future generations to look back and for older ones to look back to. Book 2 may speak of the now, this age and time, but The Morning Rush is making history by compiling what matters to this generation of Filipinos, who they are and what they're about.

I like the cartoons and the free stickers. As for the entries, these are well selected. It's witty and smart; funny and touching; and are a few good ones that gives you that smack leaving you perplexed or affected long after you've read the book from cover to cover. Take for example these entries: While some good things never last, most don't even start (Twak, p. 77); The hardest part of letting go is realizing that the other person already has (JRhyan, p. 87). OUCH.


There are plenty of Top Ten entries I recalled having listened to like the Beki Problems and Q&A in the Ms. BaranGay Contest. It made my morning commute exciting. What with the heavy traffic and the crowd between 6.30 AM till 7AM! On air, The Morning Rush Top Ten is still my choice of entertainment since the trio offers not just the laughs but insights too. C, D and G engage in intelligent conversation and they are never rude to their listeners and fans. With two books in a row, it sealed their fate as the top DJs in Philippine FM radio.

What did not work

I just wish there were more informative top ten entries like the rare Filipino words we don't get to hear any more. But, of course, this would suggest that a Book 3 is a big possibility!

Book Review: The Best of Chico and Delamar's The Morning Rush Top Ten

Yes, I admit. I am a Rusher.

I started listening to The Morning Rush with Chico and Delle in 1997 and stopped tuning in the show in 2004 because of, work. At that time, live streaming was unheard of and listening to FM radio via mobile was but a dream. Podcasts were still an idea being fermented by the techies and I have not discovered the Steve Job's wonder gadget yet.

Fast forward to 2010. Technology is making things possible. Like a long lost lover, I found my way back to RX 93.1 every Monday to Friday from 6AM to 10AM. And though I only get to listen to the show's first two hours, there's the podcasts of the show that can be downloaded. Thank you, Blue Ritz!

Some things have changed in the show, of course. For one, Chico and Delle have grown as radio hosts and as persons all their own. And it's not a bad thing because their conversations on air are more substantial now. In their early years together, they fight on air all the time and listeners loved it. I love it! For some strange reason, the differences in their opinions and personalities make for good chemistry. They have deepened in friendship as well. I gave up a long time ago on the idea that Chico and Delle would end up as lovers. No. They are better off as friends and this comforts me. It is one of the many signs that tells me that harmony can exist in this chaotic world.

I'm glad that the duo has kept their advice column in Manila Bulletin after all these years. And I am super glad that on their fifteen years together, they came out with a book, The Best of Chico and Delamar's The Morning Rush Top Ten.

What worked

The book carries their name. They didn't end up as a couple, but they are proud parents of a book which is all about the fans - the Rushers. So, in part, the Rushers are the co-authors of this masterpiece that took fifteen years to actualize and realize. The Top Ten is the The Morning Rush's strength and Chico and Delle knew how to maintain and sustain it - by focusing on their listeners and not themselves. Both share slivers of their personal lives as a response to the listeners' entries, (though sharp listeners would be able to uncover the many interesting layers that both, Chico and Delle try to keep with in the boundaries), and the effect is a communal discourse on the mundane and the profound.

Non-rushers can enjoy the book as well because it's downright funny, touching, scary, current and relevant. There are plenty of green jokes and anecdotes likewise, the truths and realities on relationships, on life and love.

What did not work

There are typos. Here's hoping that Summit Media made corrections as another ten thousand more copies will soon be out in bookstores.

Congratulations to Chico and Delle, to the Rushers and RX 93.1. I am waiting for the next installment. Book 2 in the making?