Established as one of contemporary fiction’s most distinctive and interesting new voices, Junot Díaz has done it again with his new collection of short stories entitled “This Is How You Lose Her.”
Junot Díaz’s rise to fame didn’t happen overnight, and it certainly was not an accident. Best known for his two previous works, his debut “Drown” (1996) and his widely-accepted novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” (2007), he has been listed as one of the top writers for the 21st century by The New Yorker.
In his latest work, “This Is How You Lose Her,” he gives readers nine stories that closely relate to one another, centering on the main character Yunior, his brother Rafa, as well as their mother and father.
His language can be witty and funny at times, and if one is not used to his style of writing, it will catch one by surprise how direct Díaz can be. In one story he writes, “She said she wouldn’t sleep with me until we’d been together at least a month, and homegirl stuck to it, no matter how hard I tried to get into her knickknacks.” He goes on to address the perception of the typical Dominican man as, “dogs [that] can’t be trusted,” displayed by Díaz through the actions of Rafa, the father and, eventually, through the main narrator Yunior.
One of his stories is about a relationship that ends after Yunior has been caught cheating but doesn’t become official until his eyes become open to her rejection of his efforts. There’s another that involves a female character and her lack of trust in men.
His stories are varied and even include the radical relationship he has with a school teacher and how hard it gets “to get used to a life without a secret” once he tries to move on to girls his own age.
As a whole, Díaz’s stories will make one feel connected to all the characters involved as they try to discern the phras “I love you,” its implications and its consequences.
It’s easy to understand the characters for who they are and realize that they represent more than what they just imply through their dialogue and action. Díaz’ ability as a storyteller is never questioned as he gets readers into a rhythm that makes sure the story stays imprinted in their mind for them to think about.
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