About The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fukœ—the curse that has haunted the Oscar’s family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still waiting for his first kiss, is just its most recent victim.
Diaz immerses us in the tumultuous life of Oscar and the history of the family at large, rendering with genuine warmth and dazzling energy, humor, and insight the Dominican-American experience, and, ultimately, the endless human capacity to persevere in the face of heartbreak and loss. A true literary triumph, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao confirms Junot Diaz as one of the best and most exciting voices of our time.
Detail
Complete Title: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Number of Pages: 335
Publication Time: September 6, 2007
Publisher: Riverhead Books
ISBN: 1594489580
ISBN13: 9781594489587
About Junot Díaz
Junot Díaz
Junot Díaz was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New Jersey. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Drown; The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and This Is How You Lose Her, a New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist. He is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, PEN/Malamud Award, Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship, and PEN/O. Henry Award. A graduate of Rutgers College, Díaz is currently the fiction editor at Boston Review and the Rudge and Nancy Allen Professor of Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Reviews The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Cameron
How this book won the Pulitzer Prize AND the National Book Critics Circle is beyond me. It’s terrible. Here’s the review I wrote when it came out. I stand by this completely. If someone says they read…
Vit Babenco
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a great coming-of-age tale about a boy who wished to grow up but just couldn’t… He just managed to grow older. And somehow I place this unusual novel betwee…
Malbadeen
I want to know all about your family, your childhood, your grandparents, their childhood, etc, etc, I want to know where you lived, what food you ate, what games you played or didn’t play. I want to k…
Michael Finocchiaro
Exhilarating. Brutal yet beautiful. Wao. I really enjoyed both the style and the story of this whirlwind of a novel by Junot Díaz. I can see why he got a Pulitzer and wonder if his other books are as…
Andy
I bought Oscar Wao as a birthday gift for my mother in October based on scores of sterling reviews. She read it, gave it a mild thumbs-up (probably just being nice) and handed it off to me. Now having…
Adina
A to Z around the world personal challenge – D is Dominican RepublicAfter the partial failure with another Pulitzer winner and the controversy surrounding this book /author I was a bit weary at first…
The Crimson Fucker
Ok, I’m writing a review of this book right now or I’ma die trying goddamn it! 1 HOUR LATERI got nothing! I’ve deleted like 20 paragraphs! 1 HOUR LATER!!! 2 bruises in my forehead, kind of dizzy…
Dan
Soon after I started reading this book, I also started reading
Housekeeping vs. The Dirt
by Nick Hornby. In it’s preface, Hornby discusses why reading has fallen by the wayside as of late. A lot o…
Orsodimondo
OCCHI CHE AVEVANO VISTO TUTTO, E NON SI ERANO LASCIATI SFUGGIRE NIENTECi sono persone che in cucina si muovono con particolare agio: conoscono gli ingredienti, sanno mescolarli amagalmarli aggiungerli…