This Is How You Lose Her

by Junot Díaz

This is a short story collection and the first book published by Díaz after he won the Pulitzer for his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. The collection has a similar tone and the stories play out in the same milieu as Oscar's (and his family's) story.

Most - but not all - stories are about Yunior, who lives with his mother and his dying brother Rafa. The men are all very much machos, none more so than Rafa (before he is stricken with cancer). And all stories are about relationships, of a sexual nature, of course.

To be quite honest, I did not like the first two - The Sun, the Moon, the Stars and Nilda - at all. It was only when the tales of Yunior started that I got into the book. The writing is yet again wonderful, but the language is a lot cruder than I remember from Oscar Wao.

Uneven but still pretty good.

6/10