Thomas's Reviews > The Cheater's Guide to Love

I have never been a fan of insensitive men. I recognize my personal bias: I have always been the super sensitive one, the one who cherishes conversations about feelings and the notion of putting other people first. Though I know my personality comes with setbacks, I find it even harder to stomach characters like Yunior, the protagonist of "The Cheater's Guide to Love," who cheats on his fiance with 50 other women and perpetuates a cycle of insensitive behavior.

Junot Diaz writes him well though. He gives Yunior a defined voice that grows in a consistent way over the story's six years. Diaz opts for realistic instead of sentimental characterization, providing Yunior with annoying yet believable traits and habits that make him human. Diaz also weaves in issues of racism and classism into this short story in a smooth and respectful way.

Though this story came out in the New Yorker as a standalone piece, it serves as just one of nine intertwined stories in Junot Diaz's book This is How You Lose Her. I feel excited to read Diaz's full work, even if I cannot connect to Yunior on a personal level.