In addition to being a Pulitzer-winning, chart-topping novelist and short story writer, Junot Díaz is more than a little nerdy. Okay, very nerdy. His work — including his latest story collection, This is How You Lose Her — is filled with references to geek-culture touchstones that blend seamlessly with historical analysis and intimate struggle. And towering above all else, his fiction is filled with references to comic books. But no one had ever interviewed him just about those comics. That’s why filmmaker Abraham Riesman went for a trip to St. Mark’s Comics in Manhattan — a longtime haunt for Díaz — to talk comics. To Riesman’s surprise, Díaz’s comics knowledge was even deeper and broader than he had expected.
In this short documentary, the author talks about the growing literary significance of comics, the small-press titles he’s following today, and how his wildly successful work wouldn’t be what it is if it weren’t for the comics creators that he grew up reading. Even if you’re not a comics aficionado, there’s a lot to chew on here.
(Editor’s note: we’ve also posted some comics-related comments that didn’t make it into the final version.)
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