https://www.austinchronicle.com/books/1997-10-10/518527/
When I met Diaz on the day of his reading at BookPeople, and asked him about this phenomenon, he said that many writers will allow their young protagonists to speak beyond their years because the writers themselves were told when young how smart they were, and thus see no problem in allowing their characters the same verbal latitude.
Not so with Diaz. He makes no bones about his development in the Dominican Republic and the fact that no one ever told him how intelligent he was or expected anything out of the ordinary from him; thankfully, his fiction profits. Drown has garnered notices and reviews from around the nation that would send most authors publishing their first collection of short stories straight to heaven, but Diaz, though he acknowledges how welcome that praise is, nonetheless seems propelled to take a step back and hesitate before turning in a new work to Riverhead Books, his publisher. The heady praise he receives seems in conflict with the Drown tone, which, because of its polished austerity, almost turns a cold shoulder to the reader's desire to dive into the narrative. May Diaz be able to do the same with all of his praise.
-- Claiborne K.H. Smith
There's no point in telling you more plot-wise as the novel delves into cinematic twists and turns. But by "cinematic" I don't exactly mean mainstream Hollywood; I mean Coen brothers or some other non-experimental but vaguely "abstract" filmmaker. In short, the novel is humorous but troubling, enlightening but cautionary, a liminal, mercurial, but spare take on the scamming business as seen through Polish eyes. Wisniewski himself told me that many readers have compared Confessions to Fargo, and those who have are right on the money. Both works hone in specifically on certain cultures and occupy a space somewhere between uneasy comedy and the vicious drama of low-lifes. What do the Coen brothers' eyes look like?
-- Claiborne K.H.Smith
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