Junot Diaz Quotes - Page 11

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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

Beautiful, Mean, Self

"Author Explains Tales Of New Vision, New Life". "Tell Me More" with Michel Martin, www.npr.org. June 10, 2009.

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My novel, which I had started with such hope shortly after publishing my first book of stories, wouldn't budge past the 75-page mark. Nothing I wrote past page 75 made any kind of sense. Nothing. Which would have been fine if the first 75 pages hadn't been pretty damn cool.

Junot Diaz

Book, Past, Stories

"Battling my way to a Pulitzer Prize novel" by Junot Diaz, www.cnn.com. December 4, 2009.

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You really want to know what being an X-Man feels like? Just be a smart bookish boy of color in a contemporary U.S. ghetto. Mamma mia! Like having bat wings or a pair of tentacles growing out of your chest.

Junot Diaz

Smart, Ghetto, Boys

"The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao". Book by Junot Diaz, ew.com. September 6, 2007.

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It might interest you that just as the U.S. was ramping up its involvement in Vietnam, LBJ launched an illegal invasion of the Dominican Republic (April 28, 1965). (Santo Domingo was Iraq before Iraq was Iraq.)

Junot Diaz

Iraq, Vietnam, Republic

Junot Diaz (2008). “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”, p.4, Faber & Faber

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- Nothing else has any efficacy, I might as well be myself. - But your yourself sucks! - It is, lamentably, all I have.

Junot Diaz

Might, Efficacy, Wells

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Run a hand through your hair, like the white boys do, even though the only thing that runs easily through your hair is Africa.

Junot Diaz

Running, Boys, Hair

"How to date a brown girl ( black girl, white girl or halfie)" by Junot Diaz, www.newyorker.com. December 25, 1995.

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You eventually erase her contact info from your phone but not the pictures you took of her in bed while she was naked and asleep, never those.

Junot Diaz

Sad, Breakup, Phones

Junot Diaz (2012). “This Is How You Lose Her”, p.112, Faber & Faber

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Out of nowhere you said, I love you. For whatever it's worth.

Junot Diaz

Love You, Said

Junot Diaz (2012). “This Is How You Lose Her”, p.52, Faber & Faber

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You whispered my full name and we fell asleep in each other's arms and I remember how the next morning you were gone, completely gone, and nothing in my bed or the house could have proven otherwise.

Junot Diaz

Morning, Names, House

Junot Diaz (2012). “This Is How You Lose Her”, p.53, Faber & Faber

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You ask everybody you know: How long does it usually take to get over it? There are many formulas. One year for every year you dated. Two years for every year you dated. It's just a matter of will power: The day you decide it's over, it's over. You never get over it.

Junot Diaz

Love, Years, Two

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Clavo saca clavo. Nothing sacas nothing, you reply. No one will ever be like her.

Junot Diaz

Like Her

Junot Diaz (2012). “This Is How You Lose Her”, p.105, Faber & Faber

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When she smiles niggers ask her for her hand in marriage; when I smile folks check their wallets.

Junot Diaz

Hands, I Smile, Checks

Junot Diaz (2012). “This Is How You Lose Her”, p.13, Faber & Faber

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You're the only person I've ever met who can stand a bookstore as long as I can.

Junot Diaz

Long, Bookstores, Mets

Junot Diaz (2012). “This Is How You Lose Her”, p.51, Faber & Faber

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I never wanted to be away from the family. Intuitively, I knew how easily distances could harden and become permanent.

Junot Diaz

Distance, Wanted, Permanent

Junot Diaz (2009). “Drown”, p.36, Faber & Faber

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Here at last is her smile: burn it into your memory; you won't see it often.

Junot Diaz

Memories, Lasts, Her Smile

Junot Diaz (2008). “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”, p.114, Faber & Faber

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The Prisoner's Wife echoes Edwidge Danticat's Farming of the Bones in the urgency in which it reminds us of the possibility of love even amidst the ruins. This is a terrifying, heart-breaking and, ultimately, important book.

Junot Diaz

Book, Heart, Echoes

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As for my slowness as a writer - that's been a struggle, no question. We live in a culture that values and rewards machine-speed productivity. Even the arts are expected to conform to the Taylor model of productivity.

Junot Diaz

Art, Struggle, Culture

"The Sunday Rumpus Interview: Junot Díaz". Interview with Gina Frangello, therumpus.net. September 30, 2012.

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People can say what they want, but historically, feminism in the Dominican Republic has been extremely strong.

Junot Diaz

Strong, People, Feminism

Interview with Matthew Rothschild, progressive.org. March 8, 2008.

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When you're the ones in the life raft and you have four or five women in the life raft who put it together, by the end of it your nerves are blown. The people you're going to attack are the people who are helping you, who you are holding it together with.

Junot Diaz

People, Together, Nerves

Interview with Matthew Rothschild, progressive.org. March 8, 2008.

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You can't be a human without seeing.

Junot Diaz

Humans, Seeing

Interview with Matthew Rothschild, progressive.org. March 8, 2008.

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Love is the only thing - I don't want to say that "makes it bearable" - but I feel like without the possibility of love, this place would just devour us.

Junot Diaz

Love Is, Want, Possibility

Interview with Matthew Rothschild, progressive.org. March 8, 2008.

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Honestly, connecting once at the deepest level with someone, you know, once you've done that, even if your life goes to hell, man, it was really worth living.

Junot Diaz

Men, Done, Levels

Interview with Matthew Rothschild, progressive.org. March 8, 2008.

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The people I know who would support [Donald] Trump are keeping their mouths shut.

Junot Diaz

People, Support, Mouths

"Junot Díaz is staying put". Interview with Marcela García, www.bostonglobe.com. April 6, 2016.

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I think that if you're writing about the human condition, my God, you've got to start at base: point zero, point one, is the body.

Junot Diaz

Zero, Writing, Thinking

Source: www.guernicamag.com

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Books are wonderful, but they aren't that powerful.

Junot Diaz

Powerful, Book, Wonderful

Source: www.guernicamag.com

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Latest quotes from interviews

"If you're a status quo writer, you're considered to not be political but that's as political as if you're a progressive writer. Some politics are asked to show their passports and others aren't. In the Dominican Republique, if you're slightly progressive, people have a lot of suspicions that you're up to some sort of conspiracy, that this is some sort of plot. On the other hand, if you're conservative and mainstream, people tend to take that as a given and don't notice the politics."

- Junot Diaz,

www.guernicamag.com, added Jan 4, 2018

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Junot Diaz

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Born: December 31, 1968
Occupation: Writer
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