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From Stephen Elliott
Over on The Millions, Thea Lim takes an analytical look at Junot Díaz and his book, This Is How You Lose Her, shedding some light on the reactions it has inspired, from the accolades and awards, to feminist criticism and the influence of race.
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Discussions about gender are often framed as either/or propositions. Men are from Mars and women are from Venus, or so we are told, as if this means we’re all so different it is nigh impossible to reach each other.
...moreScroll down to the most recent Rumpus Sunday Interview, the one where Sunday Editor Gina Frangello writes “I was going to use the word “genius,” but maybe that’s not quite right for a man who spends seventeen years honing one brilliant book.”
See that guy?
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Junot Díaz is the most interesting kind of…hmm…I was going to use the word “genius,” but maybe that’s not quite right for a man who spends seventeen years honing one brilliant book.
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To read Junot Díaz can be to learn about yourself and your views of his characters as much as you do about the stories themselves.
...moreJunot Díaz, author of the last book Jordan Alam loved, mourns Ray Bradbury, writing of how the “prescient lyrical writer with an abiding hatred for intolerance” inspired “many of our most famous dreamers” and gave Díaz his “first real taste of the power of fiction.”
“I had never been moved like that by any piece of art.
...more“It was 1985. You were sixteen years old and you were messed up and alone like a motherfucker. You were also convinced—like totally, utterly convinced—that the world was going to blow itself to pieces. “
This week’s New Yorker fiction piece is “Miss Lora” by Junot Díaz.
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Near the end of my first date with Mary, the woman who would become my wife and mother to my son, I asked her if she would mind going out with someone who had a thing for video games.
The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed a bunch of writers to see how they do it. Of course, they called it “How to Write a Great Novel,” but I’m not sure if trying to copy exactly what these writers do is really recommended.
...moreJunot Diaz, winner of the Pulitzer for my favorite book of the last few years The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, has written a pretty inspiring tale of frustration and perseverance in O Magazine about the process of writing his novel.
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MONDAY, October 12, 2009 – SUNDAY, October 18, 2009
This week in New York, The New Yorker Festival hits town. And yes, while the “Humor Revue,” “About Towns,” and “Kaffeeklatches” seem to have been sold out before they were on sale, there’re still some good readings and “Screen Gems” available, and a slim, if precariously so, window for getting tickets to sold-out events (see below) – and see a full schedule here; A Festival of Frightening Movies begins at Lincoln Center, and Spike Jonze week continues a the MOMA, in celebration of the Friday release of Where the Wild Things Are.
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The New Yorker Festival is fast approaching, and tickets are on sale now. As always, the festival, which runs from October 16-18, promises to bring together the most interesting minds in literature and the arts including Jonathan Franzen, A.M. Homes, Gary Shteyngart, Tilda Swinton, Malcolm Gladwell and many others.
“It was very late, and we were over at a friend’s house… (T)hat night we were just all hanging out and it was a bunch of Mexican bohemians and me and my Guatemalan buddy. And one of these Mexican cats just pulled a book off a shelf and just cornered me and was like, “My favorite writer in the world.” He was telling me, “My favorite writer in the world is Oscar Wao, I love Oscar Wao, Oscar Wao is brilliant.” And I was dying because I knew he meant Oscar Wilde.
...moreAt Red Hill Books we keep having to order more Junot Diaz books. It’s really extraordinary. They keep flying off the shelves on a daily basis.
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