Stories are hard. I have friends who knock out stories on a weekly or monthly basis, like they're running on medicinal-strength Updike. But for me a story is as daunting a prospect as a novel. Junot Diaz basisdauntfriend Change image and share on social
'A Princess of Mars' may not have exerted the same colossal pull that Tarzan had on the global imagination, but its influence on generations of readers cannot be underestimated. Junot Diaz colossalexertgeneration Change image and share on social
I read a book a week, man. And I don't have a great memory, but I have a good memory about what I read. Junot Diaz bookgoodgreat Change image and share on social
It took me 11 years to struggle through one dumb book, and every day you just want to give up. But you don't find out you're an artist because you do something really well. Junot Diaz artistbookday Change image and share on social
There are a couple of strategies for writing about an absence or writing about a loss. One can create the person that was lost, develop the character of the fiancee. There's another strategy that one can employ, maybe riskier... Make the reader suffer the loss of the character in a more literal way. Junot Diaz absencecharactercouple share on social
My father was a trigamist; he supported three families. We were never not poor. Junot Diaz familyfatherpoor Change image and share on social
Love is understood, in a historical way, as one of the great human vocations - but its counterspell has always been infidelity. This terrible, terrible betrayal that can tear apart not only another person, not only oneself, but whole families. Junot Diaz betrayalcounterspellfamily share on social
I am a chatty person, but colossally discreet. Junot Diaz chattycolossallydiscreet Change image and share on social
Cities produce love and yet feel none. A strange thing when you think about it, but perhaps fitting. Cities need that love more than most of us care to imagine. Cities, after all, for all their massiveness, all their there-ness, are acutely vulnerable. Junot Diaz acutelycarecity share on social
I write incredibly slowly. And, on top of that, I spent my entire youth and twenties working like a dog, so one of the things that happened when I finished 'Drown' was that I got busy living. I'd never travelled, I'd never seen anything. So I did as much travelling as my job teaching would allow. Junot Diaz busydogdrown share on social