The long-awaited-and thrillingly satisfying, genuinely original- first novel from the unmistakable voice behind the story collection Drown.
Amazon Best of the Month, September 2007: It's been 11 years since Junot Díaz's critically acclaimed story collection, Drown, landed on bookshelves and from page one of his debut novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, any worries of a sophomore jinx disappear. The titular Oscar is a 300-pound-plus "lovesick ghetto nerd" with zero game (except for Dungeons & Dragons) who cranks out pages of fantasy fiction with the hopes of becoming a Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien. The book is also the story of a multi-generational family curse that courses through the book, leaving troubles and tragedy in its wake. This was the most dynamic, entertaining, and achingly heartfelt novel I've read in a long time. My head is still buzzing with the memory of dozens of killer passages that I dog-eared throughout the book. The rope-a-dope narrative is funny, hip, tragic, soulful, and bursting with desire. Make some room for Oscar Wao on your bookshelf--you won't be disappointed. --Brad Thomas Parsons
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Boring!:
I got as far as page 106 and couldn't waste any more time on this book. Too many random words in Spanish-just enough to wonder what the author is talking about. There were also a lot of footnotes-tiny footnotes-that made this feel like a boring school book. I tried, but couldn't finish this book. We read it for a book club and others had the same opinion.
Story of a dominican family:
This story of a Dominican family, from the 1930s to the present, as they face a curse because one of its ancestors once displeased the all powerful Dictator Rafael Trujillo. Each chapter is about a particular member of the family. Some of them are memorable - the Oscar of the title, a black teen living in a New Jersey ghetto, a virgin weighing over 300 pounds, obsessed with videogames, Tolkien and genre literature and with zero game on women, is a memorable literary creation. Also compelling is the... more info
Not that brief and not that wonderous.:
I read this book for a book club I am in and would say that I enjoyed the read. It's a look into a culture and a history (Dominican-American) that I was unfamiliar with and found interesting and often entertaining. Diaz's writing is very good, sometimes lyrical. However I found it hard work to get through the book and probably would have dropped it if I hadn't felt obligated to finish it. In discussing the book with others I stated that I would not read it again, it just didn't feel substantial enough. Diaz... more info
a brief history of Dominicans and Dominican-Americans:
A compelling look at how torturous it is to live under a dictatorship and how strong and defiant the human spirit is. A history lesson in the Dominican Republic which unfolds in a very interesting and personal way as Trujillo's curse effects 3 generations. If you dont know any Spanish, have a Spanish-English dictionary or someone who does speak Spanish (I had a Cuban born husband on hand to ask the words they dont teach in school. He said Oh, you're speaking Dominican?) A great book.
