Even More Junot Diaz

Fresh Air is currently running older episodes. It recently aired an interview with Junot Diaz, who wrote The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

Regular Dear Reader readers may recall I really enjoyed this book. In this Fresh Air interview, they describe Oscar as the “ghetto nerd at the end of the world.”

Diaz speaks about his book, his upbringing and the Dominican Republic. He even does a reading from his novel.

One thing I thought was interesting was his discussion about the different languages in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. There were parts I didn't understand whether it was Spanish or SciFi references I didn't get. Diaz notes that he wanted there to be one language chain that the reader doesn't get. "I wanted everyone to know what it felt like to be an immigrant," he said.

I’m currently reading Brother I’m Dying – a memoir by Edwidge Danticat. It’s interesting to read about the other side of the island – Haiti, which similarly to the Dominican has a history of unrest.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90111248&ft=1&f=1032