author of the brief wondrous life of oscar wao

Propelled by compassion, Díaz’s novel is intrepid and radiant. And his characters-Oscar, the hopeless romantic Lola, his no-nonsense sister their heartbroken mother and the irresistible homeboy narrator-cling to life with the magical strength of superheroes, yet how vibrantly human they are. Writing in a combustible mix of slang and lyricism, Díaz loops back and forth in time and place, generating sly and lascivious humor in counterpoint to tyranny and sorrow.

Díaz’s besieged characters look to the supernatural for explanations and hope, from fukú, the curse “unleashed” when Europeans arrived on Hispaniola, to the forces dramatized in the works of science fiction and fantasy so beloved by the chubby “ghetto nerd” Oscar Wao, the brilliantly realized boy of conscience at the center of this whirlwind tale. Paralleling his own experiences growing up in the Dominican Republic and New Jersey, he has choreographed a family saga at once sanguinary and sexy that confronts the horrific brutality at loose during the reign of the dictator Trujillo. Readers who have had to wait a decade for his first novel are now spectacularly rewarded. First published July, 2007 ( Booklist).ĭíaz’s gutsy short story collection Drown (1996) made the young Dominican American a literary star. Another Look at: García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude.Core Collection: 50 Years of Crossovers.Core Collection: Recent Satirical Fiction.No Matter How Much You Promise to Cook or Pay the Rent You Blew It Cauze Bill Bailey Ain't Never Coming Home Again.Titles similar to The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Booklist Editors' Choice: Adult Books, 2007.National Book Critics Circle Awards: 2008 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz 0 Ratings 19 Want to read 0 Currently reading 2 Have read Overview View 2 Editions Details Reviews Lists Related Books Publish Date 2008 Publisher Riverhead Books Language English Pages 335 Previews available in: English This edition doesnt have a description yet.

Author of the brief wondrous life of oscar wao