398 Quotes by Junot Díaz

Literature is less involved in giving you answers and more dedicated to giving you insight.

Art is not boosterism, it’s not propaganda, and it’s not spin, but that’s not something that art does, and nor has it historically ever done it.

I seem to have to make my characters family before I can access their hearts in any way that matters.

I was really drawn to thinking about the women in my life. Thinking about my mother, who’s a very powerful force on me. And I have these two very strong sisters who took up a lot of imaginary space in my life.

I know for a fact that – it’s just the way our biases work now in the industry of literature, but certainly a short story collection does not receive the same kind of attention as a novel.

If we do not begin to practice the muscles of having a possessive investment in each other’s oppressions, then we are in some serious trouble.

I think a lot of the most interesting immigrant writing involves stepping outside of that old, dreary binary. Chang-rae Lee’s Native Speaker is a great example. Same goes for Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior.

I grew up in the shadow of the Trujillato, saw how the regime had ravaged so many families.

People can say what they want, but historically, feminism in the Dominican Republic has been extremely strong.