Into it: Junot Díaz

The National Book Award nominee and author of 'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,' dishes on Stephen King, the problem with 'Juno,' and why he should never – ever – own an iPod.

from the February 15, 2008 edition

... Reading?

I'm kind of an obsessive reader. The way other writers write, I read. I read about a book a day. I just finished The Lazarus Project [by Aleksandar Hemon], which comes out in a couple months. Ridiculously awesome. I read Strangers, by Yamada Taichi, and I'm working through Duma Key by Stephen King. With earlier King books you got more fantastic for your dollar. With this one, I'm onPage 300, and the fantastic is slow to appear. My girl will tell me that you do not get between me and Entertainment Weekly.

... Watching?

If you spend so much time reading, when you watch TV, you want to shut down your brain down a little. I watch a lot of really bad television. The new season of Rock of Love. I Love New York. Charm School. I'm a big Lost fan. I think in general, TV writing has gotten so good. I saw [the movie] Atonement. And I saw Juno, which was really entertaining. But the politics were terrifying. I would never vote for this film as president.

... Listening to?

I can be convinced to listen to a wide range of music. Caribbean. Merengue. Sigur Rós I can't get enough of. Of course you gotta listen to Kanye [West]. I have a tremendous weakness for Birdman. I don't have an iPod – I'm one of those people, if I walked around with an iPod, I would get hit by a car.

• "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," is out in hardcover. Díaz's website is www.junotdiaz.com.