Have you ever had a book you want to read but are nervous about reading it for fear of disappointment? That is how I feel about Junot Diaz. His book and short stories have won a great deal of critical acclaim- The Brief Wondrous life of Oscar Wao won the 2008 Pulitzer, the Sargent First Novel Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Best Novel of 2007. Time and New York Magazine called it as the best novel of 2007. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Los Angeles Times, Village Voice, Christian Science Monitor, New Statesman, Washington Post and Publishers Weekly listed it as the one of the best novels of 2007.

There is just one thing that prevents me from reading his novels- a comparison of him by many critics to David Foster Wallace, author of Infinite Jest. I dislike David Foster Wallace and find his writing incredibly pretentious. Some people say that readers who dislike David Foster Wallace dislike him because they have “limited vocabulary”. Naturally, I disagree. I don’t mind having to look up words in the dictionary; actually it can be quite enlightening. What I mind is unnecessary use of arcane language coupled with the lack of a good story.

My theory is that often authors get chosen as “the next big thing” and are given press by people who have never read their books. The idea of the writer’s genus gets perpetuated by others who read the articles and award lists without reading the books. It spirals out of control and those authors get all the attention while more deserving authors get ignored. How a writer gets chosen to be the next big thing is beyond me. Maybe it is luck, or maybe they just have good agents.

Anyway despite my hesitations, Junot Diaz is next on my reading list. I hope his writing lives up to the glowing reviews. Works of Junot Diaz can be found here.