There are two constants that link this story collection to Junot Diaz’s magnificent 2007 novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. One is the soaring, crackling voice, which mixes eloquent Dominican swagger with a 21st century pop culture patois to create a deeply expressive and frequently hilarious literary language that apparently only Diaz can speak. The other is the character of Yunior, a would-be writer who alternates his relentless womanizing with moments of deeply sad self-awareness — “I’m like everybody else,” he tells us, “weak, full of mistakes, but basically good.” Diaz’s characters love or at least lust passionately and uncontrollably — they look on in horror and fascination, as we do, at the chaos of their own hearts — and Diaz invites us to watch the disaster along with them.
Arts & Entertainment
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10. This Is How You Lose Her, Junot Diaz
Full List
Top 10 Nonfiction Books
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- 7. Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child, Bob Spitz
- 6. Wild, Cheryl Strayed
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Top 10 Fiction Books
- 10. This Is How You Lose Her, Junot Diaz
- 9. Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, Maria Semple
- 8. NW, Zadie Smith
- 7. Building Stories, Chris Ware
- 6. The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling
- 5. The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, Catherynne Valente
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- 1. The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
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- 6. Denis Lavant as the Actor in Holy Motors
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- 5. Girls, “The Return”
- 4. Homeland, “Q&A”
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Top 10 TV Series
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