Drown

This review refers to the audiobook version of Drown. I am not sure how I missed all the buzz around Junot Diaz. Recently, I came across one of his stories in Nightmares, a magazine edited by John Joseph Adams (which I also recommend), and was struck by his exceptional story Monstro, a reprint that originally appeared in The New Yorker. Diaz had, and has, a truly exceptional voice and I couldn't wait to get my hands on something else he wrote. As a fan of short stories, and for an excellent defense (and propaganda for the form) read his introduction to The Best American Short Stories 2016, I was excited to find out that his foray into fame was Drown, a collection of short stories. Drown is really a remarkable collection. All of the stories are interconnected in that they touch on aspects of the life of the main character, Ramon (Yunior) de las Casas. At least 5 of the 10 stories are directly narrated by Yunior where we get his perspective on his early childhood in the Dominican Republic, his adolescent experiences in New Jersey, his young adult working life, and his troubled relationship with his father: a man who abandoned the family in the DR to start a new life in America, with an entirely new family, but who eventually comes back to retrieve Yunior, his long suffering mother, and brother. 3 of the remaining 5 stories may be told by Yunior, but probably the strongest entry, No Face is narrated by a disfigured boy awaiting reconstructive surgery in the US, who Yunior knew in the Dominican Republic. This story is truly beautiful -- a meditation of who we are so much more than how people see us. In my opinion the other truly outstanding story is How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie which is presented as an instruction manual for dating and is really a fabulous description of how race and social status set up our expectations. The voice is so original and fresh that I was left somewhat stunned. I listened to this as an audiobook and was quite impressed by the narrator. Jonathan Davis did an outstanding job moving seamlessly between Spanish, urban slang, and plain old English -- he truly gave voice to Yunior (and the other narrators) and really added something to Drown. Buy, borrow, or burn? Buy it then buy another. Highly recommended.

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