This morning's Q&A with Junot Diaz was a good reminder that no matter how big you get in the literary world, you will still face tardo questions like, "Uh, who are you?"

Diaz answered that question like he answered most of the others: with grace and fierce intelligence on the surface, and an undercurrent of subtle hostility (maybe it was the cold, maybe it was the early hour, maybe it was the cringe-worthy questions. I don't know).

I don't really blame him—I wouldn't have blamed him even if he had bristled more openly—but I guess I was hoping for a better performance from both Q's and A's.