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33+ Works 19,564 Members 712 Reviews 56 Favorited

About the Author

Junot Díaz was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and was raised in New Jersey. His fiction has appeared in numerous publications including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, African Voices, and Best American Short Stories. He wrote the story collection Drown and the novel The Brief Wondrous show more Life of Oscar Wao, which won the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. His debut picture book is entitled Islandborn, published June 2018. He is a professor of creative writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Photo by Robert Birnbaum (courtesy of the photographer)

Works by Junot Díaz

This Is How You Lose Her (2012) 2,899 copies
Drown (1996) 2,601 copies
Islandborn (2018) 605 copies
The Best American Short Stories 2016 (2016) — Editor — 258 copies
Global Dystopias (Boston Review / Forum) (2017) — Editor — 29 copies
Beacon Best of 2001 (Beacon Anthology) (2001) — Editor — 27 copies
The Cheater's Guide to Love (2019) 23 copies
Miss Lora 4 copies
Sådan mister du hende (2013) 2 copies

Associated Works

The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction (1983) — Contributor — 1,130 copies
The Best American Short Stories 1999 (1999) — Contributor — 449 copies
The Best American Short Stories 2000 (2000) — Contributor — 391 copies
Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books (2011) — Contributor — 379 copies
The Best American Short Stories 1997 (1997) — Contributor — 351 copies
100 Years of the Best American Short Stories (2015) — Contributor — 282 copies
The Best American Short Stories 2013 (2013) — Contributor — 274 copies
The Best American Short Stories 1996 (1996) — Contributor — 245 copies
The New Granta Book of the American Short Story (2007) — Contributor — 211 copies
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012 (2012) — Contributor — 199 copies
Wastelands 2: More Stories of the Apocalypse (2013) — Contributor — 182 copies
New York Stories (Everyman's Pocket Classics) (2011) — Contributor, some editions — 152 copies
Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond (2013) — Contributor — 146 copies
The Ecco Anthology of Contemporary American Short Fiction (2008) — Contributor — 122 copies
Invaders: 22 Tales from the Outer Limits of Literature (2016) — Contributor — 110 copies
Rotten English: A Literary Anthology (2007) — Contributor — 75 copies
Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany (2015) — Contributor — 60 copies
The Norton Anthology of Latino Literature (2010) — Contributor — 58 copies
The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story (2021) — Contributor — 52 copies
Best African American Fiction (2009) (2009) — Contributor — 47 copies
Flashed: Sudden Stories in Comics and Prose (2016) — Contributor — 7 copies
The New Yorker Science Fiction Issue 2012, June 4 & 11 (2012) — Contributor — 2 copies

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*** February - What are you reading? in Club Read 2013 (April 2013)

Reviews

It has elements that appeal to me, but there are two big problems with the novel from my perspective. The narrative voice became more grating as the story went on; strong in machismo and a tone of ironic distance, Yunior’s voice was not the voice to tell this story for me. How much this is affected by the controversy surrounding Díaz’s own behavior and a sense that this voice is how Díaz likes to see himself, as a Don Juan who sees himself a bit above it all, I’m not sure, but I feel I would have enjoyed the novel more told in Oscar’s voice. There’s a reason the novel isn’t called The Continuing Irritating Life of Yunior.

Secondly the novel’s structure impeded my enjoyment. This is a personal preference to be sure, but in general I prefer not to hop around between characters and time periods back and forth, forth and back, in lengthy sections. In some novels it works great but generally I like a more time linear construction.
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lelandleslie | 482 other reviews | Feb 24, 2024 |
This book featured fabulous illustrations! It was about a little girl from an island she doesn't remember who has to write about her home country for a school assignment. Since she doesn't remember, she asks her family and community about the island and what life was like. She learns not to be ashamed that she cannot remember her home, but realizes that her home lives in her heart even if she can't remember.
This would be a super cool book to read and talk about where everyone is from! Even if students are from the same town we are currently in, it would be so wonderful for students to be able to share their connection with the place they live. They could do a similar project as the student was assigned in the book. This is probably appropriate for 1st and 2nd grade students.… (more)
 
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mmulvany22 | 51 other reviews | Feb 19, 2024 |
This book is appropriate for primary readers.
In this book a little girl named Lola seeks out stories about the Island she was born on for a school project.
This book would be useful when teaching about descriptive language and symbolism.
 
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Kpasley | 51 other reviews | Feb 19, 2024 |
I don't mean to go in for shameless ego-stroking here- I'm really quite more shocked. But I just read a Pulitzer Prize novel in the same year as it won the prize! (This never happens for me.)

Actually, I read this because my friend RoseAnna was reading it because a Dominican friend recommended it, and she laughed out loud reading it. When she flew home, she left it with me, and now I enjoyed it, though I never would have picked it for myself. (Sometimes it good to do that- have someone else pick out a book for you to read.)

I won't synopsize the story for you- being so popular right now, that stuff's all over the place (and I need to go make vegan cupcakes for the office picnic). It's one of the most original plot lines (if not the most) I've ever read. It wasn't a story I particularly identified with, but I was definitely feeling the fuku (curse) by midway through the book.

My biggest problem was that I felt like I missed so much of the story by not being able to understand the parts of the story in Dominican. ("Couldn't you include a glossary, Diaz?") But then I heard an interview with DIaz on Fresh Air (from May 2008, I think) in which he explained that not necessarily understanding the language of the whole book- and therefore not getting all of the story- was part of the point.
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deliriumshelves | 482 other reviews | Jan 14, 2024 |

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Caille Millner Contributor
Lauren Groff Contributor
Louise Erdrich Contributor
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Ted Chiang Contributor
Ben Marcus Contributor
Karen Russell Contributor
Héctor Tobar Contributor
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Jordy Rosenberg Contributor
Adrienne Bernhard Contributor
JR Fenn Contributor
Thea Costantino Contributor
Margaret Atwood Contributor
Tananarive Due Contributor
Mike McClelland Contributor
China Miéville Contributor
Maureen McHugh Contributor
Peter Ross Contributor
Nalo Hopkinson Contributor
Mark Bould Contributor
Henry Farrell Contributor
Bill Bragg Cover artist
Eva Kemper Übersetzer
Karen Olivo Narrator
Silvia Pareschi Translator
Staci Snell Narrator
Rodrigo Corral Cover designer

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Works
33
Also by
31
Members
19,564
Popularity
#1,116
Rating
3.8
Reviews
712
ISBNs
191
Languages
20
Favorited
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