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This Is How You Lose Her

Junot Díaz

3.75 · Rating details · 93,495 ratings · 7,622 reviews

On a beach in the Dominican Republic, a doomed relationship flounders. In the heat of a hospital laundry room in New Jersey, a woman does her lover’s washing and thinks about his wife. In Boston, a man buys his love child, his only son, a first baseball bat and glove. At the heart of these stories is the irrepressible, irresistible Yunior, a young hardhead whose longing fo ...more

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Hardcover, 217 pages

Published September 11th 2012 by Riverhead Books (first published March 22nd 2010)

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Oct 11, 2012 Gatamadrizgmail.com rated it it was ok

This is a collection of short stories about Yunior. Yunior is a louse. All the men in his life are serial cheaters from his father to his brother to his best friend. Yes, there is a pitch that this is part of the Dominican Culture -- but frankly I can speak with women friends of mine from France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Germany and England and every single one of them knows this guy or has dated this clown. He screws around on women, and when he is caught and discarded there is great chest thumpin ...more

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Sep 13, 2012 Cheryl rated it did not like it

Shelves: short-stories, library, fiction, literature, america

This is how you lost me. You gave me flat characters powered by preoccupations with sex and body parts, especially bushy hair, peppered the prose with Spanish words that were often slangy or derogatory, and allowed superficial, albeit energetic, descriptions of shallow thoughtlessness to masquerade as gritty literary style.

I am puzzled as to why I feel so far off the general opinion of the literary pundits who widely praise this book. I do wonder if it is because of my utter lack of exposure to ...more

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Jan 17, 2017 Kainat 《HUFFLEPUFF & PROUD》 rated it did not like it

Shelves: never-ever-ever

"This is how you lose her"
True dat. This is exactly how you lose me.

I usually like to start my reviews ~~(rants)~~ with a quote, since this involved words such as bitches, n****rs, sluts, in almost every single sentence, i think i'll just skip that part. Not that there was worth quoting anything in here anyway.

Here is the thing, i get tremendously excited when my real life friends recommend me a book, especially if it's a guy friend. No, no, i am not sexist by any means, i just like seeing what me ...more

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Sep 18, 2012 Roger DeBlanck rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction

This Is How You Lose Her is another blast of ingenious storytelling from the talented Junot Diaz. In 1997 he walloped the literary landscape and established his name as a meteoric presence with Drown, a collection of gritty stories centering on Dominican American immigrants and culture. Not until a decade later did he finish his next work, the acclaimed novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which recounts in ecstatic prose the tragedies that befall a first generation Dominican American fam This Is How You Lose Her is another blast of ingenious storytelling from the talented Junot Diaz. In 1997 he walloped the literary landscape and established his name as a meteoric presence with Drown, a collection of gritty stories centering on Dominican American immigrants and culture. Not until a decade later did he finish his next work, the acclaimed novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which recounts in ecstatic prose the tragedies that befall a first generation Dominican American family. With this collection of stories, Diaz continues to explore his trademark themes of hardship, loss, failure, and resilience in the lives of Dominican American characters.

Each of the stories focuses on individuals confronting tough times and the consequences of their choices, especially in regards to love and relationships. The central figure and narrator for several of the pieces is the incomparable Yunior. His voice ranks among the most distinctive and inimitable in modern literature. Through his perspective, Diaz gives us an uncensored glimpse into the lives of a community of men and women battling through the riotous terrain of love from both the emotional and carnal side. Diaz does not hold back with his oftentimes salacious details of love. He navigates the perils of sex and relationships with complete honesty and openness. He is a genius of language, most notably with the peerless voice of Yunior. Diaz’s literary abilities allow him to employ a poetical style that places him in a league of his own. His prose is like wildfire, tearing through everything and leaving you unsettled.

With some of America’s literary giants such as Morrison, McCarthy, and Doctorow now in the twilight of their careers, I feel comfortable with Diaz blazing the trail for the next generation of great writers to follow. We can only hope Diaz continues to produce work in the decades ahead that resonates with the same uproarious energy for life as he does in This Is How You Lose Her. I can hardly wait for his next work. ...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Rowena rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary

I had the honour of attending Junot Diaz's author talk late last month here in Vancouver. He was reading excerpts from the first three of the short stories in this book (The Sun, The Moon, The Stars; Nilda and Alma). I was honestly struck by how emphatically he read his own stories, even more impressed that I remembered his cadences. He is a gifted orator, as well as a storyteller.

As mentioned, this is a collection of short stories. They all feature a young Dominican-American man named Yunior, t ...more

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Sep 16, 2012 David Dacosta rated it liked it

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

How does an author follow up a Pulitzer Prize winning novel? For one thing, you’d hope that under no circumstances they would attempt to replicate the work. Junot Diaz has come full circle and returned to his writing roots. Like his debut collection of short stories Drown, Diaz’s third literary outing, This Is How You Lose Her, is also comprised of short stories, but these revolve around the love life of Yunior, the character who surfaced in Drown and the author’s break Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

How does an author follow up a Pulitzer Prize winning novel? For one thing, you’d hope that under no circumstances they would attempt to replicate the work. Junot Diaz has come full circle and returned to his writing roots. Like his debut collection of short stories Drown, Diaz’s third literary outing, This Is How You Lose Her, is also comprised of short stories, but these revolve around the love life of Yunior, the character who surfaced in Drown and the author’s breakout novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. This Is How... can best be described as a spinoff. The unapologetic use of the word nigger and the raw sexual references that Diaz has become known for are also back for a second occasion.

Short story collections are usually hit and miss. You’ll find yourself reading one story and be completely engrossed and not want it to end. Then the next moment you’ll question the very inclusion of another story. This Is How follows this pattern. The book begins with the story The Sun, the Moon, the Stars, a tale of infidelity and karmic justice. Yunior has a bleeding heart girlfriend in Magdalena; forgiving, in attendance every Sunday for Spanish Mass, super sensitive and according the author, “Takes to hurt the way water takes to paper.” Much to Yunior’s chagrin, Magda, as she’s affectionately known, receives an anonymous letter from a girl Yunior has been secretly seeing behind her back. The relationship between Yunior and Magda subsequently takes a turn for the worse after this revelation.

Alma ends almost as soon as in begins. Yunior is found to be a cheater by yet another girlfriend; Alma, summarized as ‘a comic-book-reading alternatinas with a big Dominican ass.’ The four page story, despite its abbreviated length, manages to paint a detailed portrait of a young academic minded Latina, who’s adored for the dimensions of her plump backside, and ultimately betrayed by her philandering partner. Yunior receives the brunt of Alma’s ire for his acts of indiscretion.

Readers are introduced to Yunior’s Cancer plagued and equally antagonistic older brother, Rafa, in the story Nilda. The Pura Principle revists the plight of Yunior`s sibling in an expanded treatment. Here we are given a clear glimpse into their family dynamics. Due to her initial fears of not being able to conceive, Yunior`s mother regards her first offspring Rafa as a miracle child of sorts and following his birth he instantly becomes the apple of her eye. However, this maternal bond is now being threatened by each irrational decision of Rafa`s while in the throes of the Big C; namely his choice to date, Pura, an opportunistic Dominican mother of two young children desperately seeking citizenship in America.

In the end it really doesn’t matter what type of book Diaz decided to write as the follow up to The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. And despite the fact that This Is How... is not a novel, it will still draw unfair comparisons to its predecessor. I’m neither unimpressed nor blown away by This Is How. It certainly deserves credit for its unique construction. Diaz is one of Caribbean literature’s most fearless voices in terms of his use of language. His absolute disregard for the notion of offensive content is refreshing. You’ll either love his style or be repulsed by it. There’s no real middle ground.

...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Kemper rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012, modern-lit, short-stories

Junot Diaz brings back Yunior from The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao as the narrator for most of the stories but leaves out the Dominican history and the geek references. Instead we get to read about heartbreak, infidelity, remorse, alienation and cancer.

You know, the stuff that makes life worth living.

Taken as a whole, these powerful stories give us a history for Yunior as he grows up in Jersey as a Dominican immigrant dealing with his family and his tendency to cheat on the women in his li ...more

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Jul 29, 2017 Nat rated it it was ok

Shelves: diverse-reads

Nine interlinked short tales chronicling ruined relationships, cheating, death, family, and more. At the heart of these stories is the irrepressible, irresistible Yunior, a young hardhead whose longing for love is equaled only by his recklessness--and by the extraordinary women he loves and loses: artistic Alma; the aging Miss Lora; Magdalena, who thinks all Dominican men are cheaters; and the love of his life, whose heartbreak ultimately becomes his own.

“And that’s when I know it’s over. As soo ...more

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Jun 21, 2013 Paul Bryant rated it really liked it

Shelves: short-modern-americans

The straight reviewers (meaning non-GR) have curled up and just about died of pure pleasure from reading this book, but I was not quite so jaw on the floor, for me it was a little bit Junot Diaz’s difficult third album. 1996, 2007, 2012 – three books, not big ones either, in 15 years. If Junot Diaz was a singer songwriter he’d be Kate Bush. He takes forever on his stuff. It reads extremely fast, goes down like alcopop, but you know it’s meticulous. He keens over every word, and the words are goo ...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Kellie Lambert rated it liked it

Released September 11, I heard a a lot of hype for this book by Junot Diaz. I wanted to see--what is all the fuss about? Why did this jump to the top of the NY Bestseller List?

I think I can tell you. In my best bookish librarian voice: the writing is raw. Eye-opening. It shifts between several different love stories, some unrequited, some failed...some still standing. I felt as if the narrator was sitting with me on the stoop of some NY slum, telling me about this girlfriend. Or this story that ...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Karel rated it it was ok

Shelves: srzbznz

a.k.a The Various Sexcapades of Yunior and Other Dominican Men.

I can praise this. I can even say that it shows you a more accurate representation of what love is than a hell lot of books out there.

But I won't.

Yunior, so funny and eloquent in Oscar Wao, is only amusing at best here. From start to end, it's just an unemotional, cold, and distant narration of who he fucked and who he cheated on and what he did to win them back - only to lapse back into the habit like gamblers and alcoholics.

There ...more

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Jan 13, 2017 Carmen rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: No One

Shelves: fiction, he-says, published2012, traditionally-published, will-put-you-off-men, dominican-author

1.) Misogyny. Women are just fucktoys. Men are not loyal, never will be loyal, and women shouldn't expect them to be. Men will cheat and fuck anything that moves until they die. Just the way it is. There's no such thing as a loyal husband or boyfriend.

Women have no personalities or character traits. Instead they are distinguished by their body parts, "the one with the small breasts," "the one with the wide hips," "the one with the gigantic ass."

2.) The world is pain. Everything is terrible. Ther ...more

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Sep 11, 2012 Maria rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Junot Diaz has always been a favorite author of mine, ever since college when he came to the Latin-American lit class I was taking in '98. By that time, I had already read Drown and was on my way to reading Negocios, the Spanish translation of Drown, expertly done by my lit. professor, Mr. Eduardo Lago (even the colloquialisms and the SHUCO-ness, the grit, the sarcasm, the naughtiness, came through, which I know, as an amateur translator myself, is supremely tough to accomplish).

Diaz's language, Junot Diaz has always been a favorite author of mine, ever since college when he came to the Latin-American lit class I was taking in '98. By that time, I had already read Drown and was on my way to reading Negocios, the Spanish translation of Drown, expertly done by my lit. professor, Mr. Eduardo Lago (even the colloquialisms and the SHUCO-ness, the grit, the sarcasm, the naughtiness, came through, which I know, as an amateur translator myself, is supremely tough to accomplish).

Diaz's language, dialogue, place, every ounce of passion and work he puts into his writing, it is all fresh, and so it will be when I reread This Is How You Lose Her next year, and the next, and so on. It takes a very talented writer to give his readers a different glimpse of the same character, Yunior, who pops up everywhere, starting with Drown. Every time he shows up, a layer of Yunior is peeled back. He's an onion - everytime you peel back a layer, you feel like crying a little. Notice here that Yunior's girls - his sucias - and his friends revolve around him, but the family stays the same, close to him, living in the back of his head - dando consejos (giving advice), for better or for worse, and sometimes ruling him. The mark of a great author is the characters he crafts, and Diaz is a writer who blows the best of them out of the water on that count.

Diaz has an amazing ability to evoke emotion like few others can - you pull for Yunior and his boys. You pray for Rafa yet, like Mami, are almost constantly disgusted with him at the same time - so you say your prayer for him then hold up your hand like you are going to smack him silly. You want to hug Yunior's girls, tell them you've been there, hold their hands, tell them that even the smartest women can be easily fooled by a charming man. Mami....like many Latina wives and mothers, she makes suffering her claim to fame, sacrifice and guilt trips her job, but she has a sharp mind and is far from a hopeless case. you can never count her out. And Papi, it's like Yunior said in Fiesta, 1980 (a story in Drown) - you just look at his belly button because you're afraid of looking him in the eye.

You know you could never live the way some of those characters live or in the places they live, yet people stronger than you do that every day. When you have hope and faith, so do they. There is a common thread that you don't know about or even willfully ignore until you read Diaz's work.

Yunior. Dios mio. You want to hug him. You see through the exterior and you want to tell him it's all OK. You want to yell at him and knock some sense into him. And like one of his girls in Cheater's Guide to Love, you love his mind, which is an expert on almost everything - from words you have to look up that he casually slips into conversation/narration to sci-fi references you also have to Wikipedia. Yet you empathize with him. You throw up your hands because you wish he'd just come clean. And you want to be there when he does.

And then the sadness when the book ends, even though you know you'll see it again, is palpable. ~~sigh~~

I've read a few of the stories in This Is How You Lose Her in the New Yorker during the past few years. The ripped-out pages I saved in a portfolio just in case I never saw those stories published again. But even though those magazine pages, for the most part, contain the same words as the corresponding stories in the book, it's like the stories were brand new. Again, blows everyone away on sheer ability.

And Diaz, you want to tell him, "You did good, hombre. You did real good." ...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Jessica Jeffers rated it it was amazing

Shelves: authors-of-color, stories-essays, fiction

Holy cannoli on a flying Popsicle stick.

I never got around to reading Oscar Wao mostly because I never got around to it and a little because I was concerned that I simply wouldn't be able to relate to a story about a nerdy teenage boy living in what Diaz himself describes as the ghetto. But, I heard that it was good (you know, in that Pulitzer-winning way) and then there was increased buzz around this latest collection of short stories. Somehow, I was the first person on the library reserve lis ...more

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Jan 08, 2018 Roy Lotz rated it liked it

Shelves: novels-novellas-short-stories, americana

My friends sometimes ask me why I don’t read more contemporary fiction, and my reaction to this book is a good illustration of the reason. On a purely superficial level, I don’t like the style. Díaz’s prose is punchy and energetic; but its energy reminds me of how CGI is abused in contemporary films—an added dose of color and dazzle that attempts to make up for a lack of substance. I felt as though he was constantly trying to maintain my attention, with a punchline, a striking image, a vulgarity My friends sometimes ask me why I don’t read more contemporary fiction, and my reaction to this book is a good illustration of the reason. On a purely superficial level, I don’t like the style. Díaz’s prose is punchy and energetic; but its energy reminds me of how CGI is abused in contemporary films—an added dose of color and dazzle that attempts to make up for a lack of substance. I felt as though he was constantly trying to maintain my attention, with a punchline, a striking image, a vulgarity, rather than trusting in the patience of the reader.

The theme of this short-story collection is masculine infidelity. In Díaz’s world this is caused by an inability to see women as anything but sexual objects. The protagonist of all the stories but one, Yunior, is (along with his brother and father) a serial philanderer. Though Yunior has his share of longing and vulnerability, the main reason for his cheating seems to be cultural training. In any case, this understandably gets him into trouble and makes him miserable, as he undermines his every relationship.

I admit that the struggles of a young man to stop making obviously bad decisions that hurt people did not strike a chord in me. This was especially true since he does not spend much time in contemplating how it must feel from the other side of infidelity. And though he does appear to show some signs of growth by the final story, this growth is notably not any substantial increase in empathy. In any case, I found the exposition monotonous and predictable: the exhilaration of forbidden sex followed by the disappointment of getting caught.

Two stories stand out as exceptions. “Otravida, Otravez” is refreshing in its viewing infidelity from another angle, as a woman who is in a relationship with a married man. “Invierno,” which is about Yunior’s move from the Dominican Republic to New Jersey, is also exceptional in its considerations of how past and future infidelity—Yunior's father, this time—affect Yunior’s family and childhood.

These stories aside, I admit that I did not sympathize with Yunior and his obsessive focus on relationships—past and current, failed and failing. But I did finish this book very quickly, reading most of it in one setting, which means it cannot be all bad. Indeed, it can be very entertaining—like verbal CGI. ...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Arria rated it really liked it

I'm a big fan of Junot. I own all 3 of his books and love when he has a story featured in The New Yorker (which is how I discovered him, many moons ago, in high school).
"This Is How You Lose Her" is another winner. Diaz has a way with words, that much is certain. Each story has it's own little gem and specialness to it.
This book is comprised of 9 short stories, most of them intertwined, linking the main character, Yunior, with his dealings with women, his dickhead brother, Rafa, who is arrogan I'm a big fan of Junot. I own all 3 of his books and love when he has a story featured in The New Yorker (which is how I discovered him, many moons ago, in high school).
"This Is How You Lose Her" is another winner. Diaz has a way with words, that much is certain. Each story has it's own little gem and specialness to it.
This book is comprised of 9 short stories, most of them intertwined, linking the main character, Yunior, with his dealings with women, his dickhead brother, Rafa, who is arrogant and cancer-stricken; their mother, who has the patience of a saint dealing with his Rafa, and there is a bit of a theme of cheating in the stories. Yunior seems to want to be a better man and stay away from the infidelity gene that has touched both his jerky, cold father and womanizing, unempathetic brother. The Dominican background and stories color this book all the more for the better, as usual, and give it that "glitter" that Junot knows how to lace through with some awesome prose. It can be beautiful and sad and funny and you are endeared to Yunior who is navigating the waters of the female species, only to disappoint and be disappointed (in both himself and his actions). It's almost like he just can't win. Mostly by his own choices and decisions. It's kind of heartbreaking.
My favorite story is "Alma." Just the way the words slice together and how he describes her and how it details so concisely a sort of amazingness, a charm, all to come snowballing down like an avalanche--it's really beautiful. "Miss Lora" was also another fave. It follows Yunior who begins sleeping with an older woman while cheating on his girlfriend Paloma. "The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars" start out this book's journey. Yunior has cheated on his sweet girlfriend Magda which she discovers because his sidepiece informs her about it. Yunior invites Magda on a trip to the Dominican Republic for the purpose of rekindling their now-infidelity-broken romance. "Nilda" is the story of Rafa's down-and-out girlfriend, with whom Yunior is completely in love with and has to watch on the sidelines, being emotionally tormented and treated badly by his "mujeriego" brother who only cares about himself. "Flaca" is the story of Yunior dating a "whitegirl" that he knows he will never love. "Otravida, Otravez" follows the story of a woman involved with a married man who has left his wife behind on the Island--and her uncertainty over her relationship with said married man. How she loves him in this sad way yet does not trust him and can't relax enough to enjoy their relationship, always wondering if he's going to go back to his wife.
"The Pura Principle" paints a great picture of sick Rafa (this particular story was described in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao) and in "Invierno," you feel for Yunior's mother, who has newly arrived to the Unites States with her sons and it's sad how lonely she is trying to adjust to this solitary life in a new cold world, so far removed from everything in the Dominican Republic. "A Cheater's Guide to Love" is the culmination of all of the stories. Yunior has cheated on his fiancé and regrets it deeply after she dumps him and the story follows him through the years of trying to put his life back together, of feeling like he is never going to find someone better, and in true Junot fashion, there is a melancholic enlightenment that the protagonist experiences. A realization that maybe, this is as good as it gets. Maybe he did have the best and screwed it up.
Women always have a way of disappearing on Yunior, becoming ghosts never to be seen again.
I wouldn't say this is a book about "love." It's more a book about love just within the grasp of one's hand, slipping through fingers, gently touching the skin, just long enough to know it's there, and then suddenly, it's not. It eludes. And sometimes, there's only yourself to blame.
Junot nails it. Again. ...more

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Sep 23, 2012 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Recommended to Jennifer by: Inprint

Shelves: own, read-2012, author-event-met-2012, format-short-story

I have to preface this review with the following: I saw Junot Díaz at a sold-out Inprint event in Houston earlier this fall where he was promoting This is How You Lose Her. Anyone who has met Díaz in person will understand the significance of this statement. Díaz is a bona-fide firecracker and has a great sense of humor to boot. He showed up on stage in tennis shoes and blue jeans and held the audience completely captive. He was exceedingly liberal with his language, which, by the way, works its
I have to preface this review with the following: I saw Junot Díaz at a sold-out Inprint event in Houston earlier this fall where he was promoting This is How You Lose Her. Anyone who has met Díaz in person will understand the significance of this statement. Díaz is a bona-fide firecracker and has a great sense of humor to boot. He showed up on stage in tennis shoes and blue jeans and held the audience completely captive. He was exceedingly liberal with his language, which, by the way, works its way into his books. In addition to swearing like a sailor, Díaz was fond of saying “yeah” after every thought. Díaz doesn’t do what he does for the shock value, it’s just who he is. And I loved him.

Díaz candidly spoke of his literary beginnings and how he views the writing process. I was really surprised by Díaz’s admission of a “trial and error” method of writing. He told the audience that it takes him three to four years to write one short story! There have to be better ways to write, but Díaz isn’t about the “machine” model. Nothing is wrong for the thing you love to be really hard, and it is okay to suck. He never has a “that was a great day of writing” moment, and he says that it is just part of the process of creating something good.

Díaz comes at the writing process as a reader first. The average reader is open, more receptive, and way cooler than the writer. Most writers approach writing too fearfully, but they shouldn’t because readers put up with so much shit. Readers excuse flaws, make up for gaps, and stitch plots together. Readers are happy to see you! By beginning to write for READERS, Díaz found his voice. This comes through in This is How You Lose Her.

This event definitely colored my reading of the book. I actually intended to read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Díaz’s Pulitzer-winning book. Díaz chose to read the short story “The Cheater’s Guide to Love,” and I felt like I just had to read This is How You Lose Her.

I hate short stories. Period. I haven’t found many exceptions to this rule. There isn’t enough time to build a credible plot or develop characters in any great detail. Díaz bucks my traditional expectation of the potential of a collection of short stories. He ties each short story of this book together, so much so that he is able to paint an in-depth and broader “big picture.” Each short story follows Yunior, a Dominican immigrant, through the relationships that are in his life from his teens to his mid-life. There so many intertwined levels in this book. Though many of the stories showcase Yunior’s ill-fated relationships with women, Díaz also weaves Yunior’s tumultuous relationship with older brother Rafa, and the cultural expectations and stereotypes of a Dominican man into the mix.

Throughout each story, Yunior experiences far more loss than love; Yunior is simply fated to mourn loss. I loved Yunior because he was a character that looked like you or me: Human, flawed, and brutally real. “I’m not a bad guy. I know how that sounds — defensive, unscrupulous — but it’s true. I’m like everybody else: Weak, full of mistakes, but basically good.” One of my #1 pet peeves is using a difficult childhood to excuse bad behavior. There is no doubt Yunior has had a difficult childhood (we see glimpses of this throughout), but he doesn’t make a big deal out of it or cater to the reader’s pity. The past haunts us, and Yunior is no exception. As a reader, you never hate Yunior, and Díaz’s ability to make a cheater remain likeable is pure genius.

The Spanish slang made the book a little difficult and frustrating to read at times – unfortunately, I don’t speak “Dominican.” I started off trying to translate some of the words and phrases I didn’t know, but I gave up about halfway through the book. I got the gist, and it only added to the book’s overall “real” flavor.

So who was the girl who broke Díaz’s heart? Are parts of This is How You Lose Her or Yunior autobiographical? Díaz says he broke someone else’s. “You know you love someone when you’re proud of the way they break up with you.” Díaz still dreams about her, and according to his mom, the only thing worse than ruining the relationship was becoming a writer.
...more

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Oct 23, 2015 Janet rated it it was amazing

Voice, voice, voice. What a treasure. This slim volume of nine short stories, about the battlefield of love. There's cheating. And searching. Being with one you don't want. Yearning for the one you want. Watching parents struggle with their own disappointments. Several of the stories feature Yunior, a young Dominican man--sometimes boy--struggling to live up to male culture while at the same time trying to find what's true to himself--while his brother Rafa is a pure heat-seeking missile of sex. ...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Nathan Rostron rated it it was ok

I hate to filter my response to book based upon others' responses to a book, but after a National Book Award nomination, a Guggenheim, and the almost unseemly vocal adoration of seemingly every major reviewer, one comes to a book with certain expectations. And in the case of this collection of nine short stories (seven of which were published previously in periodicals) that it took the author ten-plus years to complete, the subjects of which are men who keep cheating on their girlfriends and fee ...more

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Sep 14, 2017 Khashayar Mohammadi rated it did not like it

Shelves: not-for-me

I don't know what to say...

What did I just read? Why did I read this book? What was the point of all this? Was there a message I missed? or was it just page after page of dudes Gettin' laid?

Even though I hated Oscar Wao, at least there was some historical facts woven into its story line that made things interesting; but this was just smut. Diaz might be a good writer but his choice of words, his storyline, his endless catalog of tits and ass, it just gives me goosebumps, and no matter how much I ...more

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May 07, 2013 Kim rated it really liked it

Shelves: gr-friend-recommendations, heartsick

"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea."

You think about signs. How it is so easy to miss them, misinterpret them, ignore them, spit in their face. Is it about rebellion? Is it trying to defy the inevitable? If you ignore the whole nations, anguish, tossing part of the bible quote and focus on the selfish, defeatist, lovelorn Yunior and his tales of woe that is This is How You Lose Her, you kno ...more

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Jun 07, 2017 Benji rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2017

“And that's when I know it's over. As soon as you start thinking about the beginning, it's the end.” ...more

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May 13, 2014 Fabian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

"This Is How you Lose Her" (SP): The newest one by darling Junot Diaz is so theme-heavy, so break-up-centric, that you soon realize that the writer is a wee less dynamic than we'd originally thought. From acclaimed short stories to the dynamite novel that bestowed upon him the nifty Pulitzer--what could the young writer come up with next? Easy... a valentine for heartbreak. Most of the characters in "Lose Her" are flawlessly interchangeable, all women have long sexy dark hair, all men are extrao ...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Roxane rated it really liked it

I sometimes wish there were half stars because I want to give this book a 3.5. The story Otravida, Otravez, is magnificent. More elsewhere.

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Oct 12, 2012 Hilary rated it it was ok

Shelves: shortlisted, short-stories

All right, we get it, Junot Diaz. You’ve got a fun, energetic style, and we don’t know any other Dominican writers, so you can keep writing about sucios and morenos and we’ll keep applauding because it’ll seem culturally insensitive to say that, after three books largely focused on your thinly-veiled alter ego, Yunior, it’s time you tried something new.

In his previous two works, “Drown” and the Pulitzer-winning “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” Yunior was a dorky outcast more likely to rea ...more

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Sep 13, 2012 Kasa Cotugno rated it it was amazing

Shelves: loc-usa-mid-atlantic, theme-family, genre-short-stories, theme-grief, loc-latin-america, author-visit, genre-auto-fiction, loc-usa-ny, culture-dominican

Several years ago I lived out a fantasy abetted by Junot Diaz, of which he was unaware. I was sitting in a cafe reading the searing conclusion to A Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and upon closing it, looked up and saw the author himself 10 feet away, watching me read his work. He was there to attend a reading at a bookstore a few doors away. Upon signing my book, he added "thanks for allowing me to help you live the fantasy."

All of his work is intertwined, so much so that I am choosing to lab ...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Laima rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: anyone who understands spanish

Shelves: short-stories, first-reads, 2012-reading-challenge

***I won this book from GoodReads as a free FirstReads giveaway.***

This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz

This book is composed of several short stories with Yunior, a Dominican, as the main character. The stories are related but not told in chronological order… they go forward and backward in time. There is a lot of Spanish in this book as well. I understood some of it but not a lot. I think most of the time I was lost somewhere in translation.

The first story is about Yunior on vacation in Sant ***I won this book from GoodReads as a free FirstReads giveaway.***

This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz

This book is composed of several short stories with Yunior, a Dominican, as the main character. The stories are related but not told in chronological order… they go forward and backward in time. There is a lot of Spanish in this book as well. I understood some of it but not a lot. I think most of the time I was lost somewhere in translation.

The first story is about Yunior on vacation in Santo Domingo with his current girlfriend, Magda. Personally, I think she is an awful bitch and he is way too nice to her. “Dump her Yunior” I kept thinking. This chapter ends well.

Another story deals with Yunior, his brother Rafa (Rafael)and their mother coming to America. He has not seen his father for 5 years and now has to confront not only the cold winter climate of the Northeast but also the wrath of his very strict father. He also faces prejudice shown by the American white kids who whip snowballs at his window. This chapter made me sad.

Rafa does not feel or look well. Tests confirm that he is very ill. Rafa’s mother loves both her sons but she absolutely dotes on Rafa. He is the golden haired child that can do no wrong – even though he is absolutely horrible to his mother and brother. I think the mother is in serious denial and I found it really sad how she let herself be pushed around and bullied by Rafa. Even though he is desperately ill, Rafa marries Pura, the slutty whore who desperately wants her citizenship papers. I think he did this just to spite his overly religious mother. (The woman and her 4 friends “horsefaces” as Yunior calls them, pray all the time). In this situation, Yunior is very patient and tolerant of his brother.

There are some amusing parts in this book. When Yunior’s mother comes out of her bedroom carrying a gun, Yunior thinks she is going to blow away Pura. This, however, does not happen.

The stories are well written and the author has an excellent way of fleshing out the characters, in my opinion.

Overall, I think I probably would have enjoyed this book more if I understood Spanish. There are most likely nuances in the stories that just went over my head.

If you understand Spanish - read this book! ...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Jennifer Fosket rated it it was amazing

Twelve pages in and this amazing line, "She's sensitive, too. Takes to hurt the way water takes to paper." I'm so excited about how much I'm going to love this book. ...more

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Oct 13, 2014 Richard rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: short-stuff, big-apple, lovey-dovey, cool-titles, coming-of-age, regular-old-fiction

Earlier this year I read Junot Díaz's first and only novel to date, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and was smitten by it. A large part of why that book was so enjoyable was the point-of-view of it's omniscient narrator Yunior. While Oscar was never able to find a girl, Yunior never seemed able to keep one. Díaz's newest book, a story collection, is a sort of follow-up to Oscar Wao, focusing more on Yunior the Dumb-ass, and Yunior's predicament of not being able to hold a relationship; all Earlier this year I read Junot Díaz's first and only novel to date, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and was smitten by it. A large part of why that book was so enjoyable was the point-of-view of it's omniscient narrator Yunior. While Oscar was never able to find a girl, Yunior never seemed able to keep one. Díaz's newest book, a story collection, is a sort of follow-up to Oscar Wao, focusing more on Yunior the Dumb-ass, and Yunior's predicament of not being able to hold a relationship; all of them are doomed, but all of them leave an impression.

Although he's a good-looking chick magnet, he always seems to screw things up. He could blame this predicament on so many things, including his Dominican ancestry, his family-life, his rolling-stone Papi, or the influence of his lady-killing brother Rafa. But that would be the easy explanation. This collection of interconnected stories touches on the machismo inherent in most men that can ultimately lead to their downfall in relationships.

I don't know what hot-blooded guy couldn't relate to Yunior. Although I feel like I'm a good dude, I've done some stupid shit in my time, ruined what could've been great things, and will always live to regret it. And if you asked me today to explain why I'd done those things, I really couldn't tell you. But what I can tell you is that this book touched me, because I could see hints of myself and my friends in Yunior.

Once again, Díaz's casual but poignant prose helps to craft a vibrant, energetic piece of work that's almost just as good as Oscar Wao, jumping back and forth in time as well as jumping back and forth from first-person POV to a surprisingly effective second-person POV. It felt like Yunior was one of the homies, talking to me over a game of pool, which made the book intensely readable. And strangely enough, with all the cheating and failed relationships going on, the book is a surprisingly spirited and lively look at love and heartbreak in all its forms.

“In another universe I probably came out OK, ended up with mad novias and jobs and a sea of love in which to swim, but in this world I had a brother who was dying of cancer and a long dark patch of life like a mile of black ice waiting for me up ahead.”

...more

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Oct 05, 2012 Sharon rated it it was ok

I feel like a literary fraud because I did not like this book. Every reader, reviewer, Tweeter, and MacArthur genius granter was wowed and moved by this book - but me? I liked one story, enjoyed a couple others. Most washed over me like a muggy drizzle when you expected cleansing rain, and a few I outright disliked. Is it because I've never been an immigrant? Never been in love? (Not really, at least). I think it's because one of the books I was reading at the same time (The Long Walk: A Story o ...more

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About Junot Díaz

Junot Díaz

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Junot Díaz was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New Jersey. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Drown; The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and This Is How You Lose Her, a New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist. He is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, PEN/Malamud ...more