Junot Diaz

I liked how author Junot Diaz explains his artistic choices.

He writes his short fiction, Ms. Lora in the second person, instead of his customary first person.

Why write in the second person?

Second person, I’ve always noticed, has the distinction of being both intimate and repellent at the same time. A quick way of drawing the reader close but also hard to sustain for any length of time. Only so much a person likes being addressed as “you” by a complete stranger. I knew I’d lose people with the approach, but I was going to lose people anyway. That’s the nature of fiction: despite all our lofty claims of universality, no piece of art is for everyone—which is why we have so much art, so that everyone has a chance of finding something that moves them. I figured some people somewhere might connect with the tale even in second person.

Excellent response! 

Another super illumination: "Ms. Lora" is about the love affair between a minor--a 16 year old boy--and an older woman (Ms. Lora). Isn't Diaz apprehensive of being judged as "normalizing" a relationship that would be deemed "illegal" in our society (I found myself judging Ms. Lora as I read the story)?

Likely, yes, feels Diaz. But he's not seeking to redeem the Ms. Lora's of the world, just as he isn't seeking one-dimensional judgment. He aims for eliciting both reactions in the minds of the readers:

Sure, it would be swell if someone got to know Miss Lora before they judged her, or if their judgment was overturned by reading the story, but it’s also cool if a reader judges and knows the character simultaneously and neither of these experiences alters or counteracts the other. In a culture like ours, obsessed with its dichotomies, giving folks the opportunity to work out their simultaneity muscle is a worthy goal.