Thank you so much for doing this. You really are such an inspiration for me. I’ve been lending your books to all my friends since I started reading your work, safe to say you have a few new fans!
My question for you concerns the concept of loneliness in your works and how/why you keep revisiting (or so it seems when I read these novels) moments of missed connection, of unintentional self-isolation. There is always a current of bittersweet loneliness in all of Junior’s narration, as well as in the other characters and their ability to engage or interact with one another. Is that loneliness something you are trying to draw attention to as problematic for individuals with an immigrant experience like Junior’s or do you think this is a more universal theme, more emblematic of the average young adult’s experience with North American urban life? What brings you back to tropes of loneliness and urban isolation?
maroussi2 karma
Hi Junot,
Thank you so much for doing this. You really are such an inspiration for me. I’ve been lending your books to all my friends since I started reading your work, safe to say you have a few new fans!
My question for you concerns the concept of loneliness in your works and how/why you keep revisiting (or so it seems when I read these novels) moments of missed connection, of unintentional self-isolation. There is always a current of bittersweet loneliness in all of Junior’s narration, as well as in the other characters and their ability to engage or interact with one another. Is that loneliness something you are trying to draw attention to as problematic for individuals with an immigrant experience like Junior’s or do you think this is a more universal theme, more emblematic of the average young adult’s experience with North American urban life? What brings you back to tropes of loneliness and urban isolation?
Thank you again for doing this AMA!
View HistoryShare Link