After forcing myself to finish a turgid "classic," where I felt as though I was pulling myself through it by my own hair, it was refreshing to nestle down into This is How You Lose Her's brisk, picturesque and lyrical prose.

The story is about a man's struggle with intimacy with family, and lovers. Although this has a male protagonist and the majority of the female characters are here as love interests, they are no less fascinating and complex for being side stories. To my mind Junot Díaz is the best contemporary male novelist I have ever read on the strength of his writing of plausible female characters. These women were believable in a way I usually do not find in, the much lauded, contemporary American novels.

Junot Díaz's spare writing is a pinch Hemingway, a dab of Morrison's poetic, with a wicked and matter-of-fact humour, like a liberal dash of tabasco. I was warmed to the center of my Latin soul.

I have wanted to read Junot Díaz for years just because he is a mesmerizing speaker and this book did not disappoint me. He seamlessly incorporates his own personal sparkle into his work.