Alejandro Roces is a short story and essayist who is widely regarded as the country's greatest writer of comedy short tales. He is well known for his extensively anthologized short story "My Brother's Peculiar Chicken." In his numerous newspaper essays, he has always concentrated on the underappreciated facets of Filipino culture. His views on various issues such as feminism, religion, and government corruption have made him a controversial figure in some circles. Born on April 11, 1936 in San Fernando, Cebu City, the son of Felipe Roces and Elisa Almario-Roces, he finished high school at St. Paul's College in London, England. He returned to the Philippines in 1957 to take up work with the Department of Agriculture. He later joined the staff of the now-defunct daily newspaper The Manila Chronicle as an editorial writer. It was here that he began to publish some of his stories which were later collected into book form. His first collection, I Do My Best, Which Is Good Enough, appeared in 1973 from the University of the Philippines Press. This was followed by several other books over the years, most recently Short Stories 3: More Than You Wanted to Know (2010) and Essays 2: More Than You Wanted to Know (2011). In addition to writing, Roces has also been active in politics.