The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao in Read a book from each country

Jan 04, 2009 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, read2009

I found myself completely immersed in this book, from its interesting characters (who doesn't love overweight science fiction geeks?) and setting to how it spans various generations of a Dominican family that might be cursed. The voice pulled me in, the use of Tolkien and Dune made me laugh, and the story made me stay. I hope to see more from Díaz in the future, and what a great first novel! ...more

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Dec 11, 2008 J rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: latin-american-fiction

I was fortunate enough to hear some guy named Junot Diaz speak in Iowa City last September before this book became huge. I didn't know who the hell he was, but he was foul mouthed, funny and smart as could be. I think that is how I would describe this book. It's got this really nerdy in-your-face style that manages to be constantly endearing rather than just plain abrasive. Below its surface though is a dark contemplation on the terrible ways that familial and political legacies can intertwine w ...more

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Aug 20, 2008 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: page-turners

Although I've been leery of Pulitzer winners for some time now, I decided to pick up Oscar Wao by weight of its subject alone. I have spent a good deal of time reading Caribbean literature with a specific eye for Haitian and Dominican variety. Worth a shot, I figure.

i got a lot of what I signed up for. It was an absorbing read, funny and irreverent toward subjects that would have thrown less balanced contemporary writers into a meladramatic frenzy of carefully calculated sickly-sachrine spiritua ...more

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Mar 13, 2008 Maura rated it really liked it

Shelves: latin-american-or-latino, fiction

I'm not normally a big fan of coming-of-age stories, but this one won me over quickly. In the tradition of many of the Latin American writers I love, Diaz went back in history and told the personal stories of everyone in Oscar's family, which he intertwined with bits of magical realism and many references to Trujillo-era history. It was very dark but also funny at times, and I loved all the footnotes and references to historical fact and Oscar's science fiction/fantasy world. I especially apprec ...more

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Aug 30, 2009 Jodi rated it it was ok

Not sure what to think about this one - very sad. I liked the story line and really felt for Oscar and his bad luck/circumstances. I kept hoping he would succeed! However, the title kind of gives away the ending. I did not like all of the ethnic and racial slurs though.

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Apr 17, 2008 Stewart rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dominica

For the rest of the world, who had been waiting over ten years for Díaz’s first novel, following on from his short story collection, Drown, I hope the wait was worth it. For me, having never heard of Díaz until his book, The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao (2007) took the 2008 Pulitzer Prize there was no weight of expectation hanging around, waiting to confirm him as a genius or to wallow in what could have been. And were it not for the Pulitzer I would probably have remained ignorant of it as ...more

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Aug 01, 2009 Joanne rated it really liked it

fast-paced, had a rhythm to it almost like spoken word. First time I read a book with the word "diaspora" in it since college. It made me happy. ...more

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Aug 05, 2009 Anna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Very good book - humorous way to show life on Domicana and in States. I luv that.

Uśmiałam się jak nigdy, kiedy czytałam tą książkę. Nie ma etnicznego zadęcia niektórych innych autorów - świetne przedstawienie świata latynoamerykańskiego przez postać nastolatka/mężczyzny, który nie jest stereotypowym latynoskim macho.

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Jun 05, 2009 Sarah rated it really liked it

good story, the interspersed spanish threw me for a while, I started out interpreting the phrases as they appeared, but as I got the gist of it all, I read thru them. There is more history on that island than I was ever taught in public school.

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