Did anyone else find this book to be boring? I picked it up because of the flashy cover, and NOT by the title but was immediately drawn to throw the book into a fire.

36 likes · like
11 years ago
21 answers

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Nicola Cataldo Very relieved that others find this as disappointing as I did. What is the all the commotion? I didn't like Oscar Wao any better. Both were flat and predictable, and misogyny doesn't count as color.

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Heidi I gave the book four stars (and I am stingy with my ratings). The stories, characters, ambiance and language captivated me. I think it's intriguing that we're all so different and that we all converge on a story from such different backgrounds and points of view--wish we could study the why and wherefores of our preferences. Our differences ensure that every book will have its fan base.

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Rachel Johnson I love this book honestly. I've read it twice. To me, it's timeless no matter where you are in your life. I'm an 18 year old girl, and I've loved this book since the first time I read it. To each their own :)

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Renée I also picked it up based on the cover, and bought it when I saw the Pulitzer Prize winning author. I hesitate to use the word boring; its just the same story being repeated, not even with different names: there's always a Junior (Yunior) and his bro Rafa. I didn't find it enlightening, or even entertaining... Perhaps at times like a telenovela soap opera but from a male perspective... :S Wouldn't recommend it.

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Veronica Flores I am absolutely in love with this collection...it's my favorite short story collection ever. Junot Diaz is a brilliant writer and I love how much emotion and experience he captures in his brief but incredibly effective words. I feel the heartbreak of being young, being Dominican, being everything that his characters hate to be. I read it at least once every year and fall more in love with it every time. I find it to be superior to Oscar Wao and even Drown, which is also great.

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Ankita Poddar I hated the book. I only finished it coz I had nothing better to do on a long flight.

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Judy Anyone who can call this boring just does not get it. Period. Go on to some heavily plotted suspense or murder mystery, because Diaz' style is just not for you.

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Yesenia I loved the book. Couldn't put it down once I started. It's not the characters or the plot that interest me, but the writing. Oh how he can write!!! I'm amazed at how much information he conveys with how few words. And such emotion! Underneath every story lies so much love, the yearning for love and the failure of it, and the love for Santo Domingo/DR. I found it very touching. Of course the humor is captivating too. At the end of the title story, when the narrator says, "baby, you say, baby, this is part of my novel. This is how you lose her." I was laughing uncontrollably.

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Em I gave the book 3 stars, I like it but i think the writer need to mature a little bit. and not repeat the same word using a tag.

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Thomas Henry I finished it dutifully, because I really enjoyed Oscar Wao. Didn't really find much here that wasn't rehashed at length--and with more verve--in the novel.

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Mike W I am with you, I stayed with the book and finished, but wasn't great

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Vagues D’imagination Not at all. I loved it.

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Michael I'm reading it now and wasn't aware that it reads as a collection of short stories. Maybe something will tie them together, but I'm a little underwhelmed at the format.

I do enjoy Junot Diaz's style of writing and the way he can capture the intricacies of personal and romantic relationships, so it is still entertaining to me.

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Vanita Yes, tons of repetition, no development.

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Alicia I read it & was so disappointed.
His descriptions of the women are always in a word, mean & ugly.
The men are even worse.
I kept reading & wondering WHAT did the reviewers read that I am missing?
This is not a book that is worthy of accolades.
It is ugly.

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Cate Bartholomew Boring? Given that this is a collection of stories originally published in The New Yorker by a Pulitzer & MacArthur Genius Foundation winner I expected literary gold. What I read was the most debasing misogynistic dribble possible. It's loathsome.

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Deborah Not boring at all!
Love the style of writing! The characters popped!. I felt as if I was right there, immersed in the conversation, an active participant--rather than an outside observer.

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Kudzo The first and the last story intrigued me (especially the last story "the cheaters guide to love") but the other stories in the middle felt like a long incoherent misogynistic ramble that served no purpose except to fill up the blank pages. I don't know whether it is because I am not his target audience or whether the book is indeed bad. All I know is this was not an enjoyable read for me.

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