The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot D?az
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Book Summary Information
Author: Junot D?azEdition: Hardcover
Published: 2007-09-06
ISBN: 1594489580
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Book Reviews of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Book Review: An author in the right circles?
Summary: 3 Stars
I read this book when it first came out a couple of months ago. Since I enjoyed reading this writer's short fiction, I so looked forward to his first novel. What makes me scratch the proverbial head is: did I miss something? I mean, A Pulitzer? For this?
Firstly, there's no story here. It's about a geeky guy and the predictable trials of being young, foolish and wanting "the girl". That's really it. If you can merit the writing, as far as quality, then, yes, there is strong prose here. But there is not really much else. The only thing I can say is: Junot Diaz must be some well-connected writer. I can't help but think there is a clique enviornment when it comes to these things..it seems so smug to me. Who are the judges for these things than others who are in the clique? And it's almost always going to be men that win the Fiction Pulitzer. (when I think of how Joyce Carol Oats--a veteren writer of the first order--being turned down a few years ago, I can't help but think "the old boys network is alive and well.") So here we go again.
Summary of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Amazon Significant Seven Spotlight Title, September 2007: It's been 11 years since Junot D?az'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 ParsonsThis 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 Fuk?-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.
D?az 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 D?az as one of the best and most exciting voices of our time.
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