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| Author: Junot Diaz
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $13.41
You Save: $11.54 (46%)
New (58) Used (40) Collectible (17) from $8.79
Avg. Customer Rating:  178 reviews
Sales Rank: 572
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.8 x 2.1
ISBN: 1594489580
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781594489587
ASIN: 1594489580
Publication Date: September 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
A delectable Dominican dish of (mostly) unsavory, (oft cursed) characters August 18, 2008
What is so great about this book? First of all, the characters: a heavy-set, hopeless romantic, computer geek, word nerd, and aspiring writer Huascar de Leon; his lovely, loving sister Lola; their orphaned, abused, hard-working, (abusive) mother Belicia; and, surprisingly, the (story of the) siblings' maternal grandparents, Dr. Abelard Luis Cabral and his wife, a nurse, Socorro; as well as Yunior, the sometimes narrator sometimes love of Lola, who is Oscar's friend and roommate (not necessarily in that order. Second, the subjects: infatuation (Oscar's almost constant state of mind), love, sex, abuse, torture and murder. If that doesn't sound thrilling enough, the most wondrous thing about it is Diaz' crazy, fast-paced, in-your-face (p 19) "You didn't know we were occupied twice in the twentieth century? Don't worry, when you have kids they won't know the U.S. occupied Iraq either," writing style (filled with political and historical footnotes about The Dominican Republic and Trujillo, referred to as Mr. F[word]face), which includes more than a smattering of Spanish words, phrases and slang and enough overt, graphic descriptions of sexual situations and profanity to make the average reader squirm. The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is unusual in tone (sort of like, just your average Dominican Republic-born street-wise "n" word (used frequently in the book) letting the reader in on how it REALLY is) and style and an absolutely excellent read. Also good: Graceland by Chris Abani, Smila's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
Wow for Wao August 18, 2008
This book had the potential to be five stars and came up just short for me, which is a bit of a disappointment for me. It is one of the most original and refreshing novels that I've read in recent memory. Diaz's voice is distinctive, he takes risks and creates wonderfully entertaining and vivid characters.
The reasons I felt this didn't merit five stars and "classic" status are:
(1) I thought the last 10% of the book was disappointing and paled in comparison with the brilliance of the other 90% of the book. Diaz could have done a lot better with Oscar's demise and for me the plot line he took didn't resonate.
(2) More Oscar. The title and the opening of the book create a sense of desire and expectation for more of Oscar. I don't want to suggest that the other parts of the novel that focused on Oscar's sister Lola, and her boyfriend Yunior, his mother and other characters were not really strong and keep me entertained. Far from it, the parts of the book that focused on these characters added such dimension to the story. However, I wanted more of Oscar. I would have been content if Diaz expanded the scale of this novel and would have gladly read another 200 pages about Oscar. It seems that Diaz wanted to avoid an "epic" family saga and in doing so, I think he short-changed Oscar.
I don't speak Spanish and was not bothered by Diaz's frequent use of Spanish. I probably would have appreciated these little bits of dialogue and description quite a bit. However, I can't find criticism with Diaz for utilizing this mechanism within his novel.
Overall, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" is a must read. It certainly is one of the most original "American" novels you'll read. It wanted to be a classic and certainly had the ambition and scope to be. In my mind, it just came up a little bit short. I'll definitely read his collection of stories, "Drown", and look forward to his next project given his unique style and voice.
 Worth the spanish dictionary!! August 16, 2008
This book is amazing! Even though I had to get a spanish to english dictionary in the beginning, it was well worth the time to read and translate the spanish slang terms. Great Book!
 FUKU and other words Do Not Make Great Literature August 12, 2008
1 out of 19 found this review helpful
Does anyone doubt that FUKU phonetically indicates the curse of figurative sexual intercourse as either the recipient or the giver, that one may name call if one seeks an identity with an entity, and "roots" promotes UFUK, as in Yunior to Oscar.
Diaz's book, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" is a wonderful example of how throwing together some trash talk and a little cultural "home", can impress self appointed litterati. Those who desperately need attention to be "on." Diaz has pulled off a coup of the greatest magnitude, ala James Joyce and Finnegan's Wake, in helping to unseat literature as an art form. But, he can jive and put a boogey story with it.
A wild ride worth taking August 9, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This messy, self-absorbed work of genius is composed of intertwining stories about a supposedly-cursed family from the Dominican Republic and living in New Jersey. The primary character, Oscar Wao, is a young social outcast, interested in role-playing games, writing fantasy novels, and finding love, in equal measures. At times, it is difficult to keep up with the shifting points of view, narrative voice, magical occurrences, and chronology. Also, I was repeatedly frustrated by the dense footnotes and the numerous, untranslated Spanish and Spanglish phrases. A wild ride worth taking but only if you have the patience.
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