It's extraordinary how many people read a book that's new and weird and befriend it. Junot Diaz befriendbookextraordinary Change image and share on social
My father was a Little League dictator. That really affected me, his control-freakery, his impunity, his arbitrary unreasonable power. Junot Diaz affectarbitrarycontrol Change image and share on social
I seem to enjoy telling stories with a central absence, with a lacuna tunnelled into them. Junot Diaz absencecentralenjoy Change image and share on social
I mean in the community that I grew up in, you know, a very, you know, mixed, almost entirely African Diaspora community, one of the things that we were not ever supposed to say was how much self-hatred and colorism determined and guided what we would call our desire. In other words, what we would consider beautiful. Junot Diaz africanbeautifulcall share on social
Just the fact that you get to live and breathe and interact with the world - that's pretty marvelous. Junot Diaz breathefactinteract Change image and share on social
'Drown' was always a hybrid book. It's connected stories - partially a story collection but partially a novel. I always wanted the reader to decide which genre they thought the book belonged to more - story, novel, neither, both. Junot Diaz belongbookcollection share on social
In minority communities there's a sensitivity, often a knee-jerk reaction, to critical representations. There's a misunderstanding of what an artist does. Junot Diaz artistcommunitycritical Change image and share on social
Art has a way of confronting us, of reminding us, of engaging us, in what it means to be human, and what it means to be human is to be flawed, is to be contradictory, is to be often weak, and yet despite all of these what we would consider drawbacks, that we're also quite beautiful. Spin is the opposite. Junot Diaz artbeautifulconfront share on social
Art is not boosterism, it's not propaganda, and it's not spin, but that's not something that art does, and nor has it historically ever done it. Junot Diaz artboosterismhistorically Change image and share on social
I can't imagine anybody who ends up being an artist who didn't pass through a time of geekiness. Junot Diaz artistendgeekiness Change image and share on social