The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Hardcover) ~ Junot Diaz (A... Cover Art

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Hardcover)

By: Junot Diaz (Author)

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Review

"Diaz's voice sweeps together ghetto slang, pop cultural nods and winks, puns, historiographic excursuses, and blunt, unsentimental lyricism.....[The novel] proposes a defiant new model of immigrant personhood."

"It's been 11 years since Junot Diaz published his acclaimed story collection, DROWN, and he has spent the time well, honing the sharp, slangy voice that propels his terrific first novel....Narrated in high-energy Spanglish...erudite and hilarious...it is a joy to read, and every bit as exhilarating to reread."

"Diaz's reverse family saga, crossed with withering satire, makes for a compelling, sex-fueled, 21st-century tragi-comedy with a magical twist." (starred review)

"Propelled by compassion, Diaz's novel is intrepid and radiant." (starred review)

"[T]his fierce, funny, tragic book is just what a reader would have hoped for in a novel by Junot Diaz."

"Diaz's brilliance shines...with a carnivalesque mix of fantasy and gallows humor."

First line

They say it came first from Africa, carried in the screams of the enslaved; that it was the death bane of the Tainos, uttered just as one world perished and another began; that it was a demon drawn into Creation through the nightmare door that was cracked open in the Antilles.

Publisher's note

Living with an old-world mother and rebellious sister, an urban New Jersey misfit dreams of becoming the next J. R. R. Tolkien and believes that a long-standing family curse is thwarting his efforts to find love and happiness. A first novel by the author of the collection Drown. 100,000 first printing.

Annotation

Oscar Wao is an overweight Dungeons & Dragons-playing geek living in a Dominican-American ghetto whose dreams are cut short by the 500-year curse that has plagued his family and his people, "The Curse of the New World." In his first novel since his universally revered collection of short stories, DROWN, Junot Diaz continues to distill the essence of the fractured second-generation experience. The rich tapestry of language in the novel (slang, Spanish, and the poetry of Homer) speaks volumes about the complicated and violent paths by which we find our place in the world.

Editorial Reviews

TOWER.COM REVIEW

MORE ABOUT THIS PRODUCT

This is the long-awaited first novel from one of the most original and memorable writers working today.

Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar 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 Fukœ-the 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 waiting for his first kiss, is just its most recent victim.

D’az immerses us in the tumultuous life of Oscar and the history of the family at large, rendering with genuine warmth and dazzling energy, humor, and insight the Dominican-American experience, and, ultimately, the endless human capacity to persevere in the face of heartbreak and loss. A true literary triumph, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao confirms Junot Diaz as one of the best and most exciting voices of our time.

PRAISE FOR THIS TITLE

"Funny, street-smart and keenly observed.... An extraordinarily vibrant book that's fueled by adrenaline-powered prose.... A book that decisively establishes [D’az] as one of contemporary fiction's most distinctive and irresistible new voices."
-Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"Terrific... Narrated in high-energy Spanglish, the book is packed with wide-ranging cultural references - to Dune, Julia Alvarez, The Sound of Music - as well as erudite and hilarious footnotes on Caribbean history. It is a joy to read, and every bit as exhilarating to reread."
-Jennifer Reese, Entertainment Weekly

"Astoundingly great.... You could call The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao the saga of an immigrant family, but that wouldn't really be fair. It's an immigrant-family saga for people who don't read immigrant-family sagas."
-Lev Grossman, Time

"Now that D’az's second book, a novel called The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, has finally arrived, younger writers will find that the bar. And some older writers - we know who we are - might want to think about stepping up their game. Oscar Wao shows a novelist engaged with the culture, high and low, and its polyglot language."
-David Gates, Newsweek

"In the imagination of many writers it is the untold stories that propel-those vibrant, colorful, magical, historical swirls of humanity that make up our knowing. Junot D’az's wondrous first novel offers that and more, enchanting us with energetic poetry and offering us a splendid portrait of ordinary folks set against the extraordinary cruel history of the Dominican Republic in the 20th century. Those of us who have for years known and marveled at Mr. D’az's stories will not be disappointed."
-Edward P. Jones

Customer Reviews for "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Hardcover)" by Junot Diaz (Author)

Average Customer Review
5 out of 5 stars ( [1 customer review] ) 

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5 out of 5 stars wonderful first novel, February 4, 2008
By the penguin
I first came across Junot Diaz when he was featured on Tower.com as a new and upcoming author. What a good selection - this first novel about a young boy who dreams of being the next Tolkien reminds me of the best coming-of-age story of all time, Salingers Catcher in the Rye.

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