The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

by Junot Díaz

No cover — Junot Díaz: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2008, Penguin Group USA, Inc.)

E-book

English language

Published Jan. 6, 2008 by Penguin Group USA, Inc..

(19 reviews)

The most talked about—and praised—first novel of 2007, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize.Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd who—from the New Jersey home he shares with his old world mother and rebellious sister— dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, finding love. But Oscar may never get what he wants. Blame the fuku—a curse that has haunted Oscar's family for generations, following them on their epic journey from Santo Domingo to the USA. Encapsulating Dominican-American history, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao opens our eyes to an astonishing vision of the contemporary American experience and explores the endless human capacity to persevere—and risk it all—in the name of love.

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.