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| DROWN | 
 enlarge | Author: Junot Diaz
Publisher: FABER AND FABER
Category: Book
Buy Used: $10.00
Used (2) from $10.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  79 reviews
Sales Rank: 3529138
Format: Import
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
ISBN: 0571191940
EAN: 9780571191949
ASIN: 0571191940
Publication Date: 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 74 more reviews...
 Diaz Writes With Memorable Voice October 16, 2008
Junot Diaz has accomplished something rare in this collection of short stories: he's created an authentic voice for a cast of characters we desperately need to hear from but have previously been silent. More impressive, he does so without the cheap cynicism or affected posturing which characterizes so much "cutting edge" writing. He writes with sincerity, even pathos, while his unforgettable stories cut straight to the bone.
 a Bukowski rip-off September 29, 2008
I read Drown and liked it. And then I read Bukowski's Ham on Rye. Man... Diaz is a thief.
Quick easy read... September 24, 2008
I wasn't sure what to expect when I ordered this book and was pleasantly surprised by it. Being a "Dominicanphile" I felt it brought much insight from a Dominican's perspective. A very easy and enjoyable read. I finished hoping for more.
If you grew up on the streets, you might find some of these stories redundant August 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Junot Diaz is a good writer. Reading these stories is better than watching some dumb TV show depicting growing up the hard way. But for those of us who did grow up poor or with single mothers or with a bunch of deliquent friends, I just don't see this book as something to celebrate. Could it be that 'literary readers' are all from the middle class and find depiction of street life revelatory? I had the same experiences growing up on the streets of Brooklyn and didn't find the expression or situations in these stories much different than what one of my friends and I might talk about during our formative years--to whit xyz jumped off the roof last night, or zyx overdosed on heroin. I don't see the fascination about a world where these events are routine. For those who read this book to get an insight into how the 'other half' lives, I suggest going out and living that life for a while. This book might be good ethnography, but it's not great literature. I wonder if the people who run M.F.A. programs go scouring for writers who have experiences like the author's since it's such a departure from their own world. This way of idealizing this sort of material reminds me of the appeal of the photography of Diane Arbus. Her images are fascinating for the 'normal' middle class experience, but if you grew up with the people whom she depicts--like I did--you probably know uneducated, marginal, struggling people are not all that fascinating. BTW, it's odd how the English version of these stories, Drown, was translated into Spanish by someone other than the author, an named 'Negocios'--from a different short story title in the collection. That Junot Diaz doesn't translate his own work that was originally written in English is kind of odd.
 Good but NOT Great August 21, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
In my opinion Junot Diaz is a good writer. I found the book to be a good read, but NOT a great read. I was expecting so much more. I feel that so many main parts were left out, like how did they finally get to the states? It jumped back and forth too much. However, there were a lot of funny and interesting parts in the book. My favorite chapter was Drown.
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