last week my roommate and i went to see junot diaz do a reading in union square because the brief and wondrous life of oscar wao is actually the best book ever. before we arrived, i wondered if his personality would match the tempo of his literary style - witty and brash and wildly inappropriate. if you've ever read one of his books, you know what i mean.
but what we heard (after paying for a copy of his book, even though i already had one - NOTE: NOTHING IN NEW YORK CITY IS FREE) exceeded my expectations. he spoke with great enthusiasm about immigrant families and class struggles and tough topics that i'm not even sure i agree with, but it was so inspiring to see how passionate he was about connecting with others through his work. it's the little inches of our lives, he said, where we find our freedom.
"you see, in my view a writer is a writer not because she writes well and easily, because she has amazing talent, because everything she does is golden. in my view a writer is a writer because even when there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any sign of promise, you keep writing anyway."
- junot diaz
