Drown Summary
Drown is a collection of ten short stories by Junot Díaz. Set alternately in the Dominican Republic and the United States, the collection explores the lives of several young Dominican narrators.
- In "Ysrael," Yunior's family is living in the Dominican Republic. After previously abandoning the family, Yunior's father returns and moves the family to the United States.
- In "Drown," a childhood friend of Yunior's visits him. What should be a happy reunion soon becomes tense, and Yunior feels alienated.
- In "How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie," the second-person narrator instructs readers on how to date women of different races.
Summary
Drown is a profoundly raw and realistic anthology consisting of ten short stories. While the narratives do not feature a single protagonist or a unified setting, each tale revolves around a Dominican or Dominican American teenage male grappling with the brutal and frequently violent realities of poverty, drugs, and minor criminal activities. Diaz's youthful characters, residing either in the rural regions of the Dominican Republic or within Dominican communities in suburban New Jersey, strive to endure amidst the challenges of absentee fathers, extreme poverty, and monotonous employment.
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