The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

by Junot Díaz

Hardcover, 352 pages

English language

Published Sept. 6, 2007 by Riverhead Hardcover.

(18 reviews)

Things have never been easy for Oscar. A ghetto nerd living with his Dominican family in New Jersey, he's sweet but disastrously overweight. He dreams of becoming the next J. R. R. Tolkien and he keeps falling hopelessly in love. Poor Oscar may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fuku - the curse that has haunted his family for generations.

With dazzling energy and insight Díaz immerses us in the tumultuous lives of Oscar, his runaway sister Lola, their beautiful mother Belicia, and in the family's uproarious journey from the Dominican Republic to the US and back.

Rendered with uncommon warmth and humour, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a literary triumph, that confirms Junot Díaz as one of the most exciting writers of our time.

12 editions

annewalk reviewed The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

Strong Narrative Voice

3 stars

I liked the use of a strong narrative voice in this book, and that the story is narrated through the eyes of one of the side characters. The world inhabited by the characters is dangerous and difficult and I really got a sense of it. I did find the language (racism, misogyny, fatphobia, etc) difficult to deal with. I didn't like the protagonist, Oscar, a young man with Incel/stalker tendencies, and I had a hard time empathizing with him. This isn't always necessary in order to enjoy a novel but, in this case, I thought my ambivalence toward him lessened the effect of the conclusion. Overall, I'm glad to have read this story. I may go through it at a later date and read through the footnotes which I left out as they slowed the pace of the story.