THE CHEATER'S GUIDE TO LOVE

Historically, men are known to pursue women and not the other way around. Men are referred to as the 'hunters' and women 'the hunted'. This inexperience can be a disadvantage at times when you want to talk to someone but all your pick up lines are whack, "Look up in the sky, oh no, you're superfly," or worse, "I want to do riddim things to you." Initiating the relationship, however, is never a big problem. It's so easy to hook up but it's the issues that come with dating that makes love difficult to find.
Enters Yunior. You probably think that Yunior is some guy from Ukambani right? Wrong. There aren't enough books about Ukambani peeps and I'm too broke to buy the ones that are already in the market. This Yunior is Dominican, the main character on 'The Cheater's Guide to Love" and eight other stories in Junot Diaz' book, "This is How You Lose Her".
The book shows how messed up Yunior's love life is. He grew up seeing his older brother and father living in infidelity all their lives and this shapes how he views women. His struggle to find love despite his unfaithfulness which is persistent. In my opinion, it was all his fault. There's no way you can cheat on your girlfriend with fifty different women. Kwani you were looking for Carmen san Diego?
If he did that to my friend I would pay thugs to beat him up. If he did that to me I would cut out Mickey Mouse shapes from all his clothes, pay thugs to beat him up, clone him then beat up his clone as well.
The author does a very good job with this book. He uses Yunior's story to talk about immigration, cancer, poverty; themes that are not very exciting but are brought out well in this story. The language used has a bit of Spanish which is very expressive. One feels as if you are in a Spanish family gathering and everyone is screaming and shouting. At some point when you're deeply engrossed in this book and someone interrupts you, you will look at them angrily and shout the only Spanish word you know, "El Classico!".
By the end of the book you will get the impression that maybe cheaters are not so horrible after all. They are human beings just like you and me. Infact at the very beginning he defends himself by saying, "I'm not a bad guy...I'm like everybody else; weak, full of mistakes, but basically good." You will even sympathize with him, surely he sounds like he could be your brother, classmate or even boyfriend. Losing a brother to cancer, having to grow up without his dad around and basically having a normal life kills the monster idea of Yunior that his infidelity creates.
Unless you are going to write an excellent book like this one, I'd advise you to stay true to one person. If Yunior with sick lines like "the half-life of love is forever" could not get his woman back how about you whose lover has Kilimani Mums on speed dial?