The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Everything in Oscar's life is very convoluted—a kind-hearted but sadly overweight romantic and a fan of comics and science fiction from a Spanish-speaking ghetto in New Jersey, dreaming of becoming a Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien, but above all—finding love, any kind of love. But his dreams would remain just dreams if not for the fukú—an ancient curse that has plagued Oscar's family for generations: prison, torture and suffering, tragic events, and most sadly, doomed love—that is the fate of Oscar's family. His mother Beli—a divine beauty with an unruly and fiery temperament—has borne the full force of the family curse. His sister tried to escape from inevitability. And Oscar, who has futilely dreamed of his first kiss since adolescence, would be just another victim of the fukú—until one fateful summer he decides to rid his family of the terrible curse.

With incredible energy, literary charm, and expertise, Junot Díaz immerses the reader in the tumultuous life of Oscar, his headstrong sister Lola, and their fierce mother Belicia, a beauty of regal stature, as well as in the epic journey of the family from the beautiful but sorrowful Santo Domingo to an ordinary American town of Paterson and back. It is hard to resist the sincerity and humor of the author. “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” depicts the modern world in an unusual, unsettling, and mesmerizing perspective, narrating the eternal readiness of a person to endure everything—and risk everything—in the name of love.
Otherwise, this novel cannot be called anything but a true literary triumph, and it is evident that Junot Díaz is one of the most unusual, distinctive, and captivating writers of our time.