Junot Diaz: January 18, 2008

Junot Diaz reads from his 2007 novel, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," and, in far-ranging comments, addresses the danger inherent in a dominant authorial voice. "No matter how many ruses I use," Junot says, "I'm the only one speaking." Junot goes on to connect this danger, "the way a story silences other stories," to the dictatorial regime of Trujillo in his native Dominican Republic, to U.S. militaristic pride, and, on the other hand, to the often-frustrated desire of readers to understand each component of his stories.