Junot Diaz is an especially talented craftsmen. In his collection of stories, "Drown," he has written a series of professional literary short stories that teem with detail about the Dominican experience and contain a plethora of ambiguous, life-like characters.

Somehow, though, Diaz' stories are too professional. They're sure to please any committee made of MFA graduates and writing school instructors, and it's no surprise that Diaz had landed in "The New Yorker." As such, the style and plotting are too familiar to be called original or even noteworthy, if it weren't for the detail about the Dominican Republic. And right now, that's the only difference between Diaz and hundreds of Iowa graduates.

I recently heard Diaz read in Berkeley from his novel in progress, and it sounds much better than the stories contained in "Drown." He's an intelligent writer with a fierce eye and ruthless character evaluation. And a distinct voice. "Drown" is a first book, rough in places, a bit cliché in composition, but written with a brilliant mind.

Junot Diaz writes fiction without flourish. His words are stark, edgy, direct - and his stories cut through stereotype right to the quick of the truth. DROWN pulses with the rhythms of Spanish and New Jersey accents as it explores lives in both The Dominican Republic and Jersey City. Mostly adolescents and young adults, the characters struggle against a dimming or obscured future, and tend to live for the moment, even as they hope for something better. The most compelling stories are "Ysrael," "Aurora," "Edison, New Jersey," and "How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie." This is a brief book, only ten stories and a few over 200 pages long, but it packs power with its brevity.

I highly recommend this book for those with an interest in Latino and/or multicultural fiction, and for those who enjoy short story collections.

When this book first came out I approached it with apprehension because it had been received with such fanfare by the literati and laymen alike. Indeed, so great was the hype that I honestly believed that regardless of the quality of the book, It would fail to live up to the praise bestowed upon it. Thus, you may imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when I realized that, in fact, Junot Diaz is an incredibly talented writer. I've read collections of short stories that showcase the skills of some of the most gifted writers of the 20th century, and, honestly, Diaz has written some stories that surpass anything I had read before. True, some of Diaz's stories are not as effective as the majority, yet that is because most of the stories in Drown are bona fide gems. I know I'm getting too effusive here, so I'll stop. Still, If you like to read good literature, this is a book that you definitely should consider. I look forward to reading Diaz's first novel.

From the cover and title I wasn't aware that this was "Drown", another interesting book by Junot Diaz, translated into Spanish.

Even though it has some profanity and whatever this is one of the most realistic books I've ever read. Not only is interesting but Mr. Dias goes into the dominican emphazis with out any barriers.

The reader above has just given this book 3 stars on the basis of the fact that he/she mistakenly thought it was a different book. Hardly fair to the author. The back of Negocios clearly states that it is a translated work and the inner page states even more clearly that it was published in English under the title Drown. "Este libro fue publicado por primera vez en ingles, en forma encuadernada, baja el titulo Drown por Riverhead Books." That this reader would review a wonderful book on the basis of the reader's own error is most unfair. Drown/Negocios, published in English/Spanish, is a glorious collection of stories and I recommend it to all lovers of good fiction.