"The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

by Junot Diaz

Synopsis: Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd, a New Jersey romantic who 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 fukú — the ancient 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 dreaming of his first kiss, is only its most recent victim - until the fateful summer that he decides to be its last.

With dazzling energy and insight, Junot Díaz immerses us in the uproarious lives of our hero Oscar, his runaway sister Lola, and their ferocious beauty-queen mother Belicia, and in the epic journey from Santo Domingo to Washington Heights to New Jersey's Bergenline and back again. Rendered with uncommon warmth and humor, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao presents an astonishing vision of the contemporary American experience and the endless human capacity to persevere - and to risk it all - in the name of love.

My Review: I have wanted to read this book for years. Seriously, years. It just kept getting pushed back as new book club books came around and of course life. I have to say that, finally, a Pulitzer prize winner that I devoured and loved and would read again and recommend to everyone! Such smooth writing and witty humor. Despite the obvious culture differences, there were relateable references that made me smile. I've included my favorites below. I can't say enough positive things about this book. I will say that it's not a happy go lucky story. Don't try and make this a light read. That it is not. That being said, I read it on vacation. I loved it so much I almost completed the whole book in the span of one plane ride to the west coast. 

Here are some dog-eared honorable mentions: 

What grade A story doesn't make at least one Star Wars reference? "Perhaps if like me he'd been able to hide his otakuness maybe shit would have been easier for him, but he couldn't. Dude wore his neediness like a Jedi wore his light saber or a Lensman her lens. Couldn't have passed for normal if he'd wanted to."

And, a U2 reference! "...I would become a backup singer for U2, and both Bono and the drummer would fall in love with me, and Oscar could become the Dominican James Joyce."

The use of phrases like this: "Writing checks with his mouth that his ass could never hope to cover."

The rawness of Oscar's emotions: " I can't, he whimpered. My heart is overthrown."

This reference to a beloved author: "Oscar peeped the astrology books under the bed and a collection of Paulo Coelho novels. She followed his gaze and said with a smile, Paulo Coelho saved my life."

Wit like this: "But then I'd by lying. I know I've thrown a lot of fantasy and sci-fi in the mix but this is supposed to be a true account of the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Can't we believe that an Ybon can exist and that a brother like Oscar might be due a little luck after twenty-three years? This is your chance. If blue pill, continue. If red pill, return to the Matrix."

Recommendation: Go to your nearest library sale or used book store. Buy a copy of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Read it. Give it to someone else that has yet to read it. Enjoy the feeling of passing on a wonderful book. 

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p.s. here's a disclaimer for the future of my blog. I thought it would be super awesome to one day get paid to blog about books. I have come to the sad realization that it was only going to be a possibility if I dropped everything else in life to have the time, committed to reading a lot of books, and most importantly that I would have to read YA books and mostly romancey or futuristic stuff or omg vampires. So, from this point forward I'm not going to focus on writing professional reviews that will draw attention. I'm just going to write these for fun and so I can actually remember what I loved about a book when I read it.