The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Oscar's life is very convoluted, as he is a kind-hearted yet sadly overweight romantic and a fan of comics and science fiction from a Spanish-speaking ghetto in New Jersey, dreaming of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien, but above all –... finding love, any kind of love. Yet his dreams would remain just dreams if it weren't for the fukú – an ancient curse that has plagued Oscar's family for generations: prison, torture and suffering, tragic events, and, most sadly, unhappy love – such is the fate of Oscar's family. His mother Beli – a divine beauty with an untamable and fierce temperament, has experienced all the power of the family curse. His sister tried to escape from inevitability. And Oscar, who has dreamt in vain of his first kiss since adolescence, would have been just another victim of fukú – until one momentous summer when he decided to rid his family of the terrible curse.
.With incredible energy, literary charm, and knowledge of the subject, Junot Díaz immerses the reader in the turbulent life of Oscar, his headstrong sister Lola, and their fiery mother Belicia, a beauty of regal stature, as well as in the story of the epic journey of the family from beautiful yet sad Santo Domingo to an ordinary American town of Paterson and back. The author's sincerity and humor are hard to resist. “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” portrays the modern world from an unusual, disturbing, and mesmerizing angle, telling of the eternal willingness of man to endure everything – and risk it all – for the sake of love.
.Otherwise, it is impossible to call this novel anything but a true literary triumph, and it is evident that Junot Díaz is one of the most distinctive, unique, and captivating writers of our time.