I knew kids like Oscar Wao. In fact, I was Oscar Wao, an overweight, extremely nerdy kid whose lifelong ambition was to simply be cool. And so much of what Oscar Wao endures - and, more often not, through his own hand - is hilariously and uncomfortably familiar to me.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a genius work from Junot Diaz, who emerged a decade ago in a blaze of glory after the publication of his debut collection of short stories, Drown. That rare voice that speaks of the culture clash of living in the twin worlds of Latin America and the United States, Diaz perfectly encapsulates the multi-generational struggle every Hispanic-born child faces in America. Although Oscar de Leon (later Wao) is the focal point of this novel, the narration by his friend Yunior (really, it's Junot Diaz speaking) reflects the emotionally wrenching diaspora that a majority of Dominicans endured throughout the years of the violently cruel dictatorship of Trujillo, and how that homesickness stuck with not just the exiled, but their American-born children as well. It's not just Oscar's sweetly disastrous life that's examined here, but Yunior and Oscar's sister Lola as well, a struggle that, while born from the tropics of the Dominican Republic, are easy for non-dominicanos to identify with.

There's so much about The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao that's so immediately appealing. Yunior's narration is forceful, full of brio, yet also moistened with guilt. His chronicle of Oscar's nerd-obsessed upbringing (Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican Tolkien) parallels Yunior's insistence, his pull, at being the typical Dominican male, full of sexual vigor and bravado. And that's a common theme explored here; Oscar is a complete anomaly as a Dominicano, completely lacking in that sexual gene, that charisma and confidence that his male peers surely possess, yet Oscar makes no attempt in reconciling that difference. It's that difference that produces many laughs, but, ultimately, horrifying heartbreak over what could have been.

Simply put, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is truly wonderful, bridging the gap between the eloquent, first person narrative prose of someone like Philip Roth, and the hardcore nerd obsessions that Diaz and myself and many other Hispanic males like me (and non-Hispanic males and females as well) surrendered ourselves to easily. It was a 15 year gap between Drown and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and I'm hoping there won't be such a gap for his follow up.