News of his misogynistic behavior came shortly after Sherman Alexie, another widely acclaimed writer, issued a statement admitting he “has harmed” others, after rumors and allegations began to circulate about sexual harassment involving several women. We’d already been nauseated by the likes of Cosby, movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and Bill O’Reilly, the former Fox News blowhard. Until suddenly he wasn’t.Ĭount me among the legions of fans who were gravely disappointed when several women came forward with accusations against Diaz that ranged from verbal abuse to sexual misconduct.
Born in the Dominican Republic, raised in New Jersey and celebrated internationally for his bold, brash and biting prose, he was a rock star. In the years that followed, Diaz won a MacArthur “genius” Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an endowed professorship of writing at M.I.T. “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” was a mind-blowing piece of fiction, centering on a nerdy, overweight Dominican American desperately seeking love, that earned Diaz the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and predictions of literary stardom. And I read it, finishing just days before Bill Cosby, one of the worst #metoo offenders, was being released from prison after his sexual assault conviction was overturned.Ĭount me among the millions who were dazzled by Diaz’s debut novel. I hadn’t read the book, but I was well aware that Diaz had been accused of boorish behavior toward women in 2018, the year after the #metoo hashtag went viral, Passing by a Little Free Library in my neighborhood, a slim volume of essays by a once-favorite author beckoned to me: “Drown” by the celebrated and subsequently disgraced author Junot Diaz. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Diaz.
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