The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao | 
 enlarge | Author: Junot Diaz
Publisher: Riverhead
Category: EBooks
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $9.99
You Save: $14.96 (60%)
Rating:  178 reviews
Sales Rank: 204
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
ASIN: B000UZJRGI
Publication Date: September 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Amazon.com
Amazon Best of the Month, September 2007: It's been 11 years since Junot Diaz'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
Product Description
This is the long-awaited first novel from one of the most original and memorable writers working today. 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 Fuku - 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 173 more reviews...
 Wanted to Love it... September 7, 2008
I wanted to love this book and I did in some parts. I enjoyed reading about life in the Dominican. The writing at some points was gorgeous. Didn't mind the Spanish phrases. It just sort of didn't go anywhere at the end, for me. It was a little long and not much of a payoff.
Bittersweet but at times frustrating September 7, 2008
This funny/sad narrative of the family and friends of Dominican Oscar, an overweight sci-fi nerd, is a mixed bag of treasure. Each chapter is narrated by a different person in his life -- his sister, his mother, his college room mate, and of course himself -- and laced with Dominican history, to give insight into his "cursed" life. Parts are very touching, and other parts laugh out loud funny. Be warned though: if you are not bilingual or at least well-versed in Spanish, the book is heavily laced with spanish phrases that go unexplained (there is no glossary of terms -- maybe there should be). It is also filled with references to sci-fi and fantasy novels and role-playing games which may also be frustrating if you are unfamiliar with that genre. Still the characters are compelling and the stroy interesting. There is pleanty to enjoy -- just grab a contemporary Spanish-English dictionary and a Google the sci-fi references. :-)
 Oscar Wao Sucks September 3, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Worst book I ever tried to read. Put it down in disgust after only 4 chapters. Lots of Spanish words not translated and huge boring footnotes trying to explain situations or references to people.
 WOW! I loved it! September 1, 2008
I just finished reading about Oscar & his familia - real characters I know that I've met. Wonderful storytelling - weaving in DR history (that I didn't know) - and sending me to the Spanglish dictionary several times. Truly a great book!
I Loved Oscar - 4.5/5 stars August 31, 2008
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, was a very different kind of book for me. I enjoyed it very much, however, I found it very difficult as well. I attribute this to the fact that I had the audio version for this Pulitzer-Prize winner. There was a lot of use of Spanglish, and for someone without a Spanish background this was tough. The story itself was wonderful.
Told through the eyes of various narrators, readers enter the frightening world of a Dominican Republic family living in New Jersey. The characters' lives are overflowing with injustices, unrequited love, lost opportunities, physical cruelties, and as one narrator points out, an ancient Dominican curse called Fuku.
Oscar Wao, is a nice guy, who longs for love but he finds a lot of road blocks along the way: he's fat, a comic book, sci-fi, and fantasy nerd, and a loser. These undesirable characteristics diminish his chances of finding love. The love he so desperately craves, continues to elude him, and we witness the lengths Oscar is willing to endure just for the opportunity, however brief to feel love. Oscar is a poignant, painful, and lovable character who is in constant battle with his delusions. The female characters: Oscar's mother and sister, were very memorable as well. Their own brutal histories and sacrifices are heartbreaking.
I highly recommend this luminous, and humorous book, however, I would recommend the print version as opposed to the audio version, simply because of the English/Spanish difficulty I had.
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