Can I tell you how much I love Junot Diaz? I never would have thought a book about a Dominican-American geek (“The Brief & Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”) win the Pulitzer Prize. It wasn’t even until college that I knew there were Hispanic American authors writing stories that felt like they could have been… Continue reading My Favorite Dominican (After my little sisters, of course)
Dominicans are more than baseball players, I wrote on Twitter. But all the news articles that mentioned Dominicans, which Google Alerts kindly scoured the Internet for and compiled for me, seemed to say something different. The latest articles all focused on Manny Ramirez and how he recently confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs during some of… Continue reading Ode to Manny Ramirez
Sick all day with pain and fatigue that’s been worming its way through my entire week. So, again I find myself looking for solace in the TV show, “30 Rock.” I am quite pleased with how worldly “30 Rock” is. Unlike “Friends” which was also set in New York but could never be accused of… Continue reading Werewolf Bar Mitzvah
So I just received my “Commemorative Inaugural Edition” of Newsweek. Listen, I have nothing against Barack Obama but the dude even made it to the cover of my Entertainment Weekly! Fo’ shame. Meanwhile, I decided I’d give the issue a try anyway. I slipped past the first couple of pages and finally turned the magazine… Continue reading Can you be a color and a ghost?
I am sick of hearing people say they feel like they can’t understand “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” because of all those Spanish terms. Why didn’t Junot Diaz and his lovely publishers throw in some sort of glossary in the back? Just what were they thinking? We’ll never know. Luckily for all of… Continue reading The Oscar Wao Vocabulary Dictionary Glossary, You’re Welcome, Junot Diaz
Junot Diaz was quoted as saying he had to suppress his Dominicanness. Of course, he points out in a piece in Dominican Today that this quote was taken grossly out of context. Who would want to suppress their Dominicanness, in fact? (Not me. And certainly not Junot, who’s stellar Oscar Wao novel is a tribute… Continue reading On Dominicanness
I didn’t discover Hispanic authors until I was in college. Until then, I thought the only people that wrote were white with the exception of a few black ones. When I uncovered my brethren were writing, I launched myself head first into their writing. The heavy hittersFor a while, I was addicted to Oscar Hijuelos.… Continue reading Hispanic Heritage Month Post #3: The Authors
Junot Diaz with his little book. I called my father to tell him about Junot Diaz’s new book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I’m not sure which was stranger, the fact that I was calling my father (a rare occurrence) or the fact that I was talking to him about literature (he prefers… Continue reading Calls to the Platano Mainland
I owe my little blog a lot of love. I owe it little write-ups on books by Junot Diaz, David Sedaris and many more (NOTE TO SELF). I’m currently snacking on Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. It is quite the tasty treat. I couldn’t put it down (okay, I snuck in some Time and… Continue reading Promises, Promises, Promises
It has been three days at I have finally finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. I have plenty to say on that later but since I’m rereading it to jot down all the useful Dominicanisms in the book, I am drawn back to the beginning of the book. The book… Continue reading A nation
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 