Drown

by Junot Diaz

[layawaydragon]

Oh boy. This one is much the same as Oscar Wao. Only it doesn't have a Watcher to tell the tale and weave a coherent overall story. It's chunks and pieces of Jr.'s life in the DR and in Jersey, his father's journey, and a story about No Face.

It's sad. Depressing. Disjointed. Jumps around. Couldn't tell where one started and one ended on the audio. Have to pay attention like Oscar Wao.

Since I listened to Oscar Wao first, as this collection came afterwords as a bonus, it helped me understand Jr. better and fill in some information.

Full of domestic violence, rape, sexism, racism, misogynoir, anti-sex worker, cheating, toxic masculinity, ablism, homophobia, addiction, fatphobia. Uses the n-word, “fag”, “pussy”, “puta”, “halfie”.

I did really like the parts Jr.'s experience dealing with rich white people with their pool tables. I didn't like how they blamed the woman being kept as a slave for going back to the bastard. So many strong women dealing with so much bullshit, and motherfuckers just blame and shame them instead of being better. Ugh.

At least this collection gave me some hope for the next generations unlike Oscar Wao.