Now, let me preface this by saying I really really appreciate the way Junot Diaz writes.

But honestly, I couldn't tell you what this book was about or how it differed in plot from Oscar Wao. There were a lot of similarities. If I rack my brain, I remember Oscar Wao being about a misfit college student who recounts his experiences and ultimately ends in a sad fate.

I guess I'd say this is about failed romances or the way you experience love and it doesn't really actually stop even if you've both "moved on" in some way or another. The chapters sometimes correlate, sometimes not. He speaks about his brother, his nebulous and somewhat consensual rape(?), loving a married man from a woman's point of view. . .just variations on the theme of failed love.

I love the way he writes and I'd read Drown or anything he puts out from here on out. Just plot wise, I'm not hip enough to grasp the intricacies or subtle nuances in plot development and it all kind of feels jumbled and disorganized. I like stories to be very linear. This happened, then this happened, let's go back to childhood, then my grandma's version...it doesn't have to be chronological but there needs to be some organization. This felt like a ball of yarn tangled up. His knack for writing lies in describing details or distilling things into his own vernacular.

The way he describes things amazes me (and I don't use that word lightly).

"The half life of love is forever."

“Ana Iris once asked me if I loved him and I told her about the lights in my old home in the capital, how they flickered and you never knew if they would go out or not. You put down your things and you waited and couldn't do anything really until the lights decided. This, I told her, is how I feel.”

“You hear mothers say all the time that they would die for their children, but my mom never said shit like that. She didn't have to. When it came to my brother, it was written across her face in 112-point Tupac Gothic.”

But substance-wise, I'm still hungry.

tragic. an excellent character sketch of three housemates. I really loved this book. happy I picked it up.

i did not care for this book at all. the tone was all wrong for me. it wasn't accomplished or even particularly informative. it was very humble and deferring. I would read more of his nonfiction but this didn't speak to me.

some great essays and interviews. the woman who fell from the sky was interesting. I would read a novel by him.

kind of trite. not that complex, could have been woven with more skill. characters were largely unidimensional, but I enjoyed the pacing and the narrator style. it was interesting so much was happening through the eyes of an unreliable source.

not as good as I wanted it to be. parts were great, the ending sucked.