Junot Díaz is a genius

The MacArthur Foundation confirms what the world already knew -- with $500,000

Published October 2, 2012 10:37AM (EDT)

     (Darryl Bush)
(Darryl Bush)

Some guys have all the luck. And some guys totally deserve it. Junot Díaz, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" and "This Is How You Lose Her," has joined literary heavyweights like Thomas Pynchon and David Foster Wallace in winning the MacArthur Foundation's Genius Grant, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship.

The MacArthur Foundation famously distributes grants to its anointed geniuses without conditions. This year's typically eclectic class includes a mandolinist, a pediatric neurosurgeon and a geochemist. (Yeah, that's a thing.) See the whole list here.


By Katie McDonough

Katie McDonough is Salon's politics writer, focusing on gender, sexuality and reproductive justice. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com.

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