The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Perhaps I am biased as a Cuban American, but this book was a pleasure to read. I have not read a book I enjoyed as much as this one in a while. It is potentially difficult to read if you are not a Spanish speaker or do not understand some of the slang used but it is very well written in a fast-paced style and the structure of the book and story of the demise of a family reminds me of other great Latin American writers such as Gabriel Garcia Marques.

Even though the timeline is difficult to follow, if you just go with the flow and dive in you will enjoy this book. Diaz thought about it hard. Some people have mentioned that the use of Spanish was frustrating for them but as a Spanish speaker I can say that the reference to Comic Books and sci-fi went right over my head probably in much the same way as the Spanish did for others. Just suck it up! It's a great book!

Also if you are from or have ever lived in Miami read this book; if you like Dominican culture, read this book; if you are interested in exploring something outside of your own sphere of existence, read this book.

From the start, I was absorbed with this book. What a delight. Several times throughout the book, I was reminded of Confederacy of Dunces and after reading several reviews, I guess others thought the same. But aside from both being Pulitzer Prize winners, having very original story lines and both being tragi-comedies-- the similarities stop there.

The Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao goes back in forth in time and in characters so effortlessly and brilliantly. The dialogue is as colorful as the characters, with a lot of reference to the country of origin (Dominican Republic... so yes, there are a few Spanish words and phrases to muddle through) and reference to comic book heroes (it substantiates Oscar as a sci-fi geek). Both subjects I know little about, but the references lend flavor to the book and never become a distraction. I love the footnotes.

A great story teller and a pleasure to read, highly recommend...

I had heard a lot about this book, but I was underwhelmed. I would have liked a bit more background on Dom Rep, as I found this to be the most interesting aspect of the book. I do not speak Spanish andI was annoyed by the constant injection of Spanish into sentences as if it was English. Seems as if he was trying to evoke a feeling, but to me, it would have been better if he had stuck to English and used it to create the feeling/scene.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (Riverhead Books 2007)

Brilliant, acerbic and filled with the love of revenge that writers are famous for: revenge for being black, being poor, being Dominican, and revenge for being smarter than the monsters who pervert the course of the world, both politically and personally. (Would that every dictator great and small could achieve such an excoriating epitaph as the DR's Trujillo does in this book.) It's also filled with love--just plain love. A wondrous book, not brief, with an irreverence you can't buy these days. It's the real thing, the genuine article: inspired, comic, brilliant and moving. It's also grateful. It pisses in the face of the world and then says `Thank you.' Oscar Wao is a fatboy nerd who wants to be JRR Tolkien and marry J-Lo (or the next nearest best thing.) His tale is probably far more common than we imagine, because he's exactly the kind of person who gets noticed last, and always too late. Not this time, however, for this book plants him dead centre in the spotlight, where he belongs. Think Zadie Smith before she got all awards-conscious, Gabriel García-Marquez in his finest moments, Richard Pryor in some of his zaniest, and you have Oscar Wao's life as told by Dominican immigrant Díaz. Winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction.

www.jeffreyround.com

OMG!!! Not since the stand have I been this moved by a book. 1st things 1st. I have 16 brothers and sisters. The 2 brothers I was closest with, have a different father than I do. My brothers last name....Wao. I grew up A spanglish spewing, Marvel (and sometimes DC) comic loving,(who's grand-parents escaped from El Trujillo and moved to...) I am a Puerto Rican. I am a geek. I am from Jersey. I am Ely Rodriguez. I am Oscar Wao.