The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz

Junot Diaz is a young writer originally from the Dominican Republic who moved to the USA with his family when he was about 6 years old. Because he is so familiar with both cultures he can write convincingly about both of them, and so like the author, Oscar Wao grows up living part of the time in the Domincan Republic and part of the time in the United States. One of the most interesting things about this book is that you will learn a lot about Dominican history and culture as you read, but the book is so entertaining that you will barely notice how much knowledge you are taking in. Oscar is an extremely nerdy young boy growing up in a culture that expects ...  Read the complete review

'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao' is the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Junot Diaz. The story is superbly narrated by Yunior (Oscar's college roommate), and jumps backwards and forwards between three generations of Oscar's family; his grandfather Abelard, his mother Beli, and Oscar and his sister Lola. The story of this unfortunate family - suffering from the 'fuku', a curse brought over by the Europeans, is interwoven with the dramatic history of the Dominican Republic. Diaz uses this history as a backdrop to the earlier parts of the story in a way that shows the cultural mindset of the country at the time, and how strong superstition was. Not only ...  Read the complete review