Rainy Days and Mondays...

"Really why I'm drawn back to Yunior consistently, persistently has a lot to do with who the hell this guy is. Yunior is someone who recognizes at an intuitive level, at an emotional level and at an intellectual level how fucked up and flawed he is. He has a heart with a utopian impulse. He wants to be in love. He wants a normal, healthy, nourishing relationship. He knows that one of the great challenges of the human condition is to connect with someone else, fundamentally and intimately, and he longs for that. He has all these recognitions, but he's not capable of stopping himself from doing all the fucked up things he wants to do. He's got this tragic condition where he can recognize in himself his limitations, but he doesn't have the strength to transcend them. But he's also aware that there's a social dimension for his problems. I don't think he looks at the social dimension to escape responsibility or blame. He's the kind of guy who in condemning himself throws a light onto the world we live in. Which is quite different from condemning the world as a way to avoid recognizing the part we play in it."

-Junot Diaz interview in BookPage, about his new novel, This Is How You Lose Her



I can't wait until Diaz's book comes out. I've got it pre-ordered to arrive next week. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak at the Caribbean Philosophical Association meeting last year. And yes, he does in fact say fuck constantly.

In other news, we've got a September full of new albums...check out the 10 September Albums that Paste Magazine is excited about.

And more over, you can go here to stream the new Jens Lekman album for a rainy and overcast Monday.