This Is How You Lose Her

By: Junot Díaz

Narrated by: Junot Díaz

Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Junot Díaz burst into the literary world with Drown, a collection of indelible stories that revealed a major new writer with the "eye of a journalist and the tongue of a poet" (Newsweek). His eagerly awaited first novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, arrived like a thunderclap, topping best-of-the-year lists and winning a host of major awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. Now Díaz turns his prodigious talent to the haunting, impossible power of love.

The stories in This Is How You Lose Her, by turns hilarious and devastating, raucous and tender, lay bare the infinite longing and inevitable weaknesses of our all-too-human hearts. They capture the heat of new passion, the recklessness with which we betray what we most treasure, and the torture we go through - "the begging, the crawling over glass, the crying" - to try to mend what we've broken beyond repair. They recall the echoes that intimacy leaves behind, even where we thought we did not care. They teach us the catechism of affections: that the faithlessness of the fathers is visited upon the children; that what we do unto our exes is inevitably done in turn unto us; and that loving thy neighbor as thyself is a commandment more safely honored on platonic than erotic terms. Most of all, these stories remind us that the habit of passion always triumphs over experience, and that "love, when it hits us for real, has a half-life of forever."

©2012 Junot Díaz (P)2012 Penguin Audiobooks

Very explicit story of young Dominican guy

Where does This Is How You Lose Her rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Near the top.

What did you like best about this story?

Junot Diaz's voice. His narrative. His perspective.

What about Junot Díaz’s performance did you like?

He made it "real".

Who was the most memorable character of This Is How You Lose Her and why?

Junot.

An intimate and refreshing voice

What did you love best about This Is How You Lose Her?

I love that the autor narrates this book, as he is capable of imprinting in his voice the emotions that he gave to his characters, therefore the experience becomes so intimate and enchanting.

Weirdly Wonderful

This weird little story was not what I expected, but it completely captured my interest from the first pages. Junot Diaz has a disarming, genuine style that delivered a certain oomph to an already compelling storyline. I am impressed.

Another Banger!!!

What did you love best about This Is How You Lose Her?

I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK

Who was your favorite character and why?

ALL OF THE CHARACTERS WERE MY FAVORITE

Which scene was your favorite?

ALL OF THE SCENES WERE MY FAVORITE

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

IF I WERE TO MAKE A FILM OF THIS BOOK THE TAG LINE WOULD BE "UNA VAINA BUENA; PERO BIEN BUENA; BUENA BUENA BUENA"

Any additional comments?

CHECK THIS BOOK OUT NOW!!! HURRY UP!!!

A wonderful writer with a unique voice

Junot Diaz is a wonderful writer who gives a strong voice to Dominican culture. He writes about a world I've not experienced, but it rings true. The stories are sad and funny, mean and generous, and to hear Diaz read them himself is a special treat.

This is How You Enter as a Villan & Leave a Hero

Would you listen to This Is How You Lose Her again? Why?

Yes, the author tells heartfelt and penitent tales of love and loss, and honestly depicts his role in each story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of This Is How You Lose Her?

The ending paragraph had me in tears.

What does Junot Díaz bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A tone of integrity.

Any additional comments?

Having absolutely no knowledge of Spanish, had I known that a considerable amount of the book is sporadically in Spanish, I might not have purchased it. But I hope this doesn't keep people from listening, because the context in which the Spanish is inserted is written in a way that one can get the gist of what they are saying, and doesn't interfere with the story.

Exceeded Expectations

Was not expecting the story to be told from such a compelling point of view. The bachatas in between chapters actually exposed me to Aventura which I have spent several weeks listening to.

Read it!

It's sad, but it's going to make you feel to the fullest and remind you of a similar situation. Just read it!

Cheating with a fresh voice

Junot Diaz's writing is extremely fresh, new, and immensely entertaining. Yunior, the recurring narrator throughout most of these stories, is a character unlike any other I've come across. The writing here, especially the Dominican street talk, is vivid.

While I liked the book overall, I gave the story itself only three stars. For me, the stories, detailing Yunior's romantic relationships, and the inevitable breakups, got a little repetitive. I really liked the stories about Yunior's childhood, the coldness of his father, the mother's obliviousness, and the stories of Rafa's (Yunior's brother) sad end. Yunior's chronic infidelities are interesting at first, but I eventually just got tired of hearing about them in almost every story. In one of the last stories, Yunior claims to have cheated on one long-time girlfriend over 50 times. At that point, the reader has read so much about cheating that it elicits only a shrug.

The writing is so good here. I just wish other characters would have had more voice, and that relationship issues other than infidelity would have figured into the stories.

a cool entertaining book

I like the way the author read it... real, flavorful, with character, not mincing words, entertaining... it was fun to listen... the stories are just the right size to tell a story and not get boring... but beware, some Spanish (Dominican Spanish) is needed if u listen to it... I feel like I missed out on some flavors by not being familiar with Dominican slang (looking it up later wasn't as good as understading it in the moment)...