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

Absolutely loved this story

I loved everything abiut this book. Junot Diaz is an amazing storyteller, and narrator. It felt a talented friend telling some really great stories from his life. And the transitional music was a really cool touch. loved it!

loved it!

I love the way Junot Diaz reads this book! His personality makes the book come alive and it adds a lot of humor!

Good collection of short stories

This book while very short is still very good. Great characters and great descriptions and quips from the characters but it seems played out. I feel Drown and Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao were better but i still listened to this straight through. Would rather of had the silk voiced Jonathan Davis read it also but Diaz is still a good narrator. What I would like is for DIaz to write a sci fi book with Dominicans on the Moon or Mars. Some new settings and characters would be great.

Dominican Power, Emotion, Truth

I am extremely moved by the writing of Junot Diaz. What a gift this man has. He speaks his truth from his heart and gut. These stories are raw and vulnerable, filled with what it's like to be a young Dominican man in and out of love and lust, both the highs and lows. These stories are powerful and I wanted more. I loved his first novel and I loved these short stores. I wish for more. His writing is art. I think he is an excellent writer, story teller, artist, he is full of soul.

Good story, bad narrating

The other reviewers are right, this is a book that you'd be better off reading than listening to. The author reads it like he's doing story time for children, it was hard to finish for me. Overall good book, the author should probably just stick to writing.

LOVED IT

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

I thought Junot Diaz did an incredible job narrating his book. I enjoyed reading about Dominican culture as seen through the eyes of different age groups and sexes.

What other book might you compare This Is How You Lose Her to and why?

I love short stories, but I don't think I have read anything that I could compare to this.

What about Junot Díaz’s performance did you like?

Loved the inclusion of Spanish/Dominican slang.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending!

Great!

Love the music choice to every chapter.
Very enjoyable. Highly recommended. Went through it so fast.

It's no Oscar Wao

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I loved Oscar Wao and have given it as a gift to friends and family so I had high hopes for this new book. I simply didn't get it, there was a lot of cursing which didn't bother me, the stories just seemed disconnected and lacking.

masterpiece!

l love it! The body of work is full of heartache and redemption with a realistic ending.

Amazing!

This book is so relatable on so many levels. The way each character speaks is if I am listening to a couple of my friends.