Junot Diaz brings back Yunior

By Cindy Y. Rodriguez, CNN

(CNN) - To claim fans have been eagerly waiting for Dominican author Junot Diaz's next book would be an understatement.

Diaz took the literary world by storm with "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," a story about the life of "poor lovable" ghetto nerd Oscar de Leon, narrated by Yunior, the main protagonist in Diaz's first novel, "Drown." The story of a chubby Dominican boy growing up in New Jersey won a Pulitzer Prize in 2008, National Book Critics Circle Award, and was named Time's No. 1 Fiction Book of 2007. Not too shabby.

Now, in "This Is How You Lose Her," a collection of stories released last week, Diaz brings back the character of Yunior to tell the "important and necessary story of the inner lives of 'bad boys,' " as the acclaimed author says.
Born in Santo Domingo and raised in New Jersey, the Rutgers alum took some time out of his book tour to talk about his new book, what his family thinks of his writing and the unique voice in his work.

CNN: Was it difficult to write "This Is How You Lose her," considering all the attention "Oscar Wao" received?

Diaz: I don't think it was difficult for that reason. It's one thing to write something about a poor lovable nerd who in some ways who could not find love and whose larger culture sort of rejects him and another to write about a messed-up-in-the-head cheater. And, to make that character and that story in some ways sympathetic was the greater challenge.