off the bookshelf - Junot Diaz's This Is How You Lose Her

When I lived in Korea I read this book:

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Something about it totally caught me, and I really liked it. I liked the nerdy ghetto kid who really wanted to be in love. What I liked more, though, is the way Diaz moved the story away from him to share stories of the lives of his mom, grandparents, friends, and sister, and moving the narratives from the US to the Dominican in a way that gives some context to his upbringing.

And so, I thought this summer that I'd read his latest book:

This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz

This book also stars characters from Oscar Wao, and does keep a focus on Yunior's fragile relationships and how these become so consuming. It's basically a set of stories from the people that Yunior meets and knows, and I like the sort of loose-connectedness that the stories all lend to the overall theme. Diaz's writing also has this very smooth accent-vibe, making you, if you're like me, feel like you could hear the attitude of the character's words.

I enjoyed Oscar Wao more, but there's something haunting about the new stories that really did stick with me.