From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
Startling and powerful prose in two languages (thank heavens a helpful person on the internet made an annotation page for the Spanish). The prose vacillates between vernacular and poetic depending on the chapter, and the locations and characters are vivid. However, after the whole book, I still hadn't developed any empathy for the "protagonist" Oscar (I'm not actually certain he IS the protagonist) as he never learns to see women outside his family as actual human beings. To him, women are gener
...more
Oscar is the most tragic, but lovable hero. He embraces everything nerdy, has an endearing want to simply experience love, but the misfortune of being obese and carrying a supposed family curse leads to his lifelong struggle. The story has actually less to do with Oscar and more to do with this curse and how it has affected each of his family members. We follow the narrator, Yunior as he tells each story and watch as the mascot or guardians of the curse (a talking mongoose and faceless people) m
...more
Interesting read. If you've read any of Julia Alvarez you'll probably like this book. However, the author uses so much Spanish, including a lot of slang, that it could be frustrating for non-Spanish speakers.
...more
Mar 31, 2010
Megan
marked it as to-read
May 31, 2010
Katie White
marked it as to-read
Feb 26, 2013
Kirsty
marked it as to-read
Apr 30, 2014
Julie C.
marked it as to-read
May 04, 2014
Lorna
marked it as to-read
Aug 06, 2014
Ali
marked it as to-read
Dec 28, 2017
Heather
marked it as to-read
Jan 02, 2018
Alexis
marked it as to-read
