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Junot Díaz

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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Pulitzer Prize Winner) Paperback – September 2, 2008

by Junot Díaz (Author)

4.3 7,904 ratings

Editors' pick Best Literature & Fiction

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Winner of:
The Pulitzer Prize
The National Book Critics Circle Award
The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
The Jon Sargent, Sr. First Novel Prize
A Time Magazine #1 Fiction Book of the Year

One of The New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

One of the best books of 2007 according to: The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, The Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, People, The Village Voice, Time Out New York, Salon, Baltimore City Paper, The Christian Science Monitor, Booklist, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, New York Public Library, and many more...

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read and named one of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years

Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd who—from the New Jersey home he shares with his old world mother and rebellious sister—dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, finding love. But Oscar may never get what he wants. Blame the fukú—a curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations, following them on their epic journey from Santo Domingo to the USA. Encapsulating Dominican-American history, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao opens our eyes to an astonishing vision of the contemporary American experience and explores the endless human capacity to persevere—and risk it all—in the name of love.

Print length

339 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Riverhead Books
Publication date

September 2, 2008
Dimensions

5.22 x 0.89 x 7.96 inches
ISBN-10

1594483299
ISBN-13

978-1594483295
Lexile measure

1010L
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"An extraordinarily vibrant book that's fueled by adrenaline-powered prose. . . A book that decisively establishes [Díaz] as one of contemporary fiction's most distinctive and irresistible new voices." —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"Díaz finds a miraculous balance. He cuts his barn-burning comic-book plots (escape, ruin, redemption) with honest, messy realism, and his narrator speaks in a dazzling hash of Spanish, English, slang, literary flourishes, and pure virginal dorkiness." —New York Magazine

"Genius. . . a story of the American experience that is giddily glorious and hauntingly horrific. And what a voice Yunior has. His narration is a triumph of style and wit, moving along Oscar de Leon's story with cracking, down-low humor, and at times expertly stunning us with heart-stabbing sentences. That Díaz's novel is also full of ideas, that [the narrator's] brilliant talking rivals the monologues of Roth's Zuckerman—in short, that what he has produced is a kick-ass (and truly, that is just the word for it) work of modern fiction—all make The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao something exceedingly rare: a book in which a new America can recognize itself, but so can everyone else." —San Francisco Chronicle

"Astoundingly great. . . Díaz has written. . . a mixture of straight-up English, Dominican Spanish, and hieratic nerdspeak crowded with references to Tolkien, DC Comics, role-playing games, and classic science fiction. . . In lesser hands Oscar Wao would merely have been the saddest book of the year. With Díaz on the mike, it's also the funniest." —Time

"Superb, deliciously casual and vibrant, shot through with wit and insight. The great achievement of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is Díaz's ability to balance an intimate multigenerational story of familial tragedy. . . The past and present remain equally in focus, equally immediate, and Díaz's acrobatic prose toggles artfully between realities, keeping us enthralled with all." —The Boston Globe

"Panoramic and yet achingly personal. It's impossible to categorize, which is a good thing. There's the epic novel, the domestic novel, the social novel, the historical novel, and the 'language' novel. People talk about the Great American Novel and the immigrant novel. Pretty reductive. Díaz's novel is a hell of a book. It doesn't care about categories. It's densely populated; it's obsessed with language. It's Dominican and American, not about immigration but diaspora, in which one family's dramas are entwined with a nation's, not about history as information but as dark-force destroyer. Really, it's a love novel. . . His dazzling wordplay is impressive. But by the end, it is his tenderness and loyalty and melancholy that breaks the heart. That is wondrous in itself." —Los Angeles Times

"Díaz's writing is unruly, manic, seductive. . . In Díaz's landscape we are all the same, victims of a history and a present that doesn't just bleed together but stew. Often in hilarity. Mostly in heartbreak." —Esquire

"The Dominican Republic [Díaz] portrays in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a wild, beautiful, dangerous, and contradictory place, both hopelessly impoverished and impossibly rich. Not so different, perhaps, from anyone else's ancestral homeland, but Díaz's weirdly wonderful novel illustrates the island's uniquely powerful hold on Dominicans wherever they may wander. Díaz made us wait eleven years for this first novel and boom!—it's over just like that. It's not a bad gambit, to always leave your audience wanting more. So brief and wondrous, this life of Oscar. Wow." —The Washington Post Book World

"Terrific. . . High-energy. . . It is a joy to read, and every bit as exhilarating to reread." —Entertainment Weekly

"Now that Díaz'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. If Donald Barthelme had lived to read Díaz, he surely would have been delighted to discover an intellectual and linguistic omnivore who could have taught even him a move or two." —Newsweek

"Few books require a 'highly flammable' warning, but The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz's long-awaited first novel, will burn its way into your heart and sizzle your senses. Díaz's novel is drenched in the heated rhythms of the real world as much as it is laced with magical realism and classic fantasy stories." —USA Today

"Dark and exuberant. . . this fierce, funny, tragic book is just what a reader would have hoped for in a novel by Junot Díaz." —Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Junot Díaz was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New Jersey. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Drown; The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award; This Is How You Lose Her, a New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist; and a debut picture book, Islandborn. He is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, PEN/Malamud Award, Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship, and PEN/O. Henry Award. A graduate of Rutgers College, Díaz is currently the fiction editor at Boston Review and the Rudge and Nancy Allen Professor of Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Riverhead Books; Reprint edition (September 2, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 339 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1594483299
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1594483295
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1010L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.22 x 0.89 x 7.96 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #6,594 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #69 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
- #269 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books)
- #811 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 7,904 ratings

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Junot Díaz

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Junot Díaz was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New Jersey. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Drown; The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and This Is How You Lose Her, a New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist. He is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, PEN/Malamud Award, Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship, and PEN/O. Henry Award. A graduate of Rutgers College, Díaz is currently the fiction editor at Boston Review and the Rudge and Nancy Allen Professor of Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

7,904 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Customers say

Customers find the tone enlightening, poignant, and sad. They also describe the characters as compelling and the content as interesting and accessible. Readers describe the book as modern, refreshing, and nonchalant. They praise the narrative voice as unique and resourceful. Opinions are mixed on the writing style, engagement, and plot. Some find the writing good and engaging, while others say the words are difficult to understand and vulgar at times. Reader opinions are mixed also on the plot, with some finding it page-turning and magical realism, while other say it's ill-researched and a sad life story.

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Tone Characterization Content Originality Voice quality Writing style Engagement Plot

244 customers mention "Tone"203 positive41 negative

Customers find the tone of the book enlightening, fascinating, and fun. They also say the meanings of individual sentences are enhanced. Readers also mention that the book has some funny moments and references to Dominican culture.

"...chapter by chapter. The meanings of individual sentences are thereby enhanced, but if one stops for each and every unknown Spanish term or literary..." Read more

"...not detract from the book at all, but really, it helps the readers gain insight into the story, and in turn become closer the setting and the..." Read more

"...to do it is a bit stilting at time, but it still is enriching to learn the history...." Read more

"...I liked the underlying story, I just wish Diaz had been a little more gentle with his readers and given us some help with the translations." Read more

105 customers mention "Characterization"88 positive17 negative

Customers find the characters compelling, believable, and sympathetic.

"...I also thought most of the characters' stories were well told and involving, and they felt realistic...." Read more

"...It was a fun enjoyable story with good characters...." Read more

"...turned easily, but that was because Diaz wrote clearly with well defined characters (again, albeit a bit too static). It was not a page turner...." Read more

"...I loved the nerd references throughout and it did help me connect with the characters because besides RPGs I loved the story's he connected them too...." Read more

97 customers mention "Content"74 positive23 negative

Customers find the content interesting, smart, and understandable. They also say the references are fascinating and relevant to their own lives. Customers also say it's an excellent book highlighting the Latino immigrant experience. They say the author does a fantastic job selling a deeply thoughtful and unintentionally rich narrative.

"...be extremely long, but they are also extremely funny and give good background information to the history of the Dominican Republic...." Read more

"...But he's also fairly good at it, hecka funny at times, killer smart. That's literature, in my view; if you like it, you like it...." Read more

"...He’s so present, and his use of language is intimate and causal, yet detailed and beautiful...." Read more

"...It's that memorable, confusing, disturbing, and incomprehensible.First the good. I liked learning about the Dominican Republic...." Read more

55 customers mention "Originality"44 positive11 negative

Customers find the characters in the book unique and well-crafted. They also say the time and place are unique, full of tension, and modern. Readers describe the story, writing style, and themes as modern, raw, beautiful, and hip. They describe the book as completely new and original, and say it feels fresh.

"...The writing is fresh, original, and thoroughly enjoyable. Nicely paced...." Read more

"...In conclusion, this is a unique, well written book, but lacks the emotional punch to make it really shine, Pulitzer notwithstanding." Read more

"...It did honestly provide a new outlook for a whole lot of aspects in daily life and reading...." Read more

"...As a first novel, it has all the promise, originality and humanity of Ken Kesey's 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'.Highly recommended." Read more

49 customers mention "Voice quality"42 positive7 negative

Customers find the narrative voice unique, and say the author is amazing. They also appreciate the great mix of multiculturalism, multilingual, drama, politics, humor, and Latino women who are exceptionally resourceful, clever, and powerful.

"...Doesn't seem to matter much. The narrator is an involved person, but is slow to disclose his identity. Takes him about half through the novel...." Read more

"...I like the energy, exuberance even, of the language, harnessed to a truly original voice...." Read more

"...Diaz is a talented modern voice and his subject matter is refreshingly different for those bored with the same old suburban American "drawing room"..." Read more

"...not a total descent into darkness - primarily because the main narrator is sympathetic, funny and smart...." Read more

379 customers mention "Writing style"251 positive128 negative

Customers are mixed about the writing style. Some find the book witty and easy to read, with a lot of references and shout-outs for comic book readers. However, some find the words difficult to understand if you don't have a prior knowledge of Spanish.

"...The writing is fresh, original, and thoroughly enjoyable. Nicely paced...." Read more

"...Not only formal, elegant books who sound pretty and are devoid of all things disgusting and/or repulsive, should win the Pulitzer Prize...." Read more

"...It's that memorable, confusing, disturbing, and incomprehensible.First the good. I liked learning about the Dominican Republic...." Read more

"The book is an amazing size easy read interesting worth the purchase" Read more

174 customers mention "Engagement"116 positive58 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book. Some find it engaging, amusing, and catchy. They also appreciate the energy, exuberance, and non-traditional style. However, others find it incredibly lazy, useless, and crude.

"...The writing is fresh, original, and thoroughly enjoyable. Nicely paced...." Read more

"...lot of credit for all of the research and information it presents in a fun, enjoyable way...." Read more

"...explain the reign of Trujillo are extremely long, meandering, and mostly useless...." Read more

"...I like the energy, exuberance even, of the language, harnessed to a truly original voice...." Read more

90 customers mention "Plot"32 positive58 negative

Customers are mixed about the plot. Some find it well-drawn, with a dose of magical realism. They also say it follows multiple generations without becoming encyclopediatic. However, others say the storyline is completely anticlimactic and insulting. They find the references to history superficial and untrustworthy. They mention the references and descriptions of brutal violence throughout are distracting.

"...It's that memorable, confusing, disturbing, and incomprehensible.First the good. I liked learning about the Dominican Republic...." Read more

"...The style of the book is magnificent, moving and realistic. I feel that it is related more to the old oral traditions than to the written word...." Read more

"...It was a fun enjoyable story with good characters. A little crazy on the beating up but maybe that is part of the character of the people living..." Read more

"...of two people who won't read the book because of the very vulgar, abusive and prejudiced language and attitudes throughout the narration...." Read more

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Brenda H.

Junot Diaz's broader vision of the American experience

Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2013

Verified Purchase

Junot Diaz stretches our understanding of what it is to be an American. He helps us view our heritage through the lives of his characters and their ancestors, fully realized figures who experience the governmental and social turmoil of the Dominican Republic's past. The Revolutionary War is not the entire story of America's violent beginnings. The destructive history of the Dominican Republic born in the days when Christopher Columbus first stepped onto its shores impacts the current lives of Oscar Wao and his family.

Another major force working in this book is the quest of Oscar Wao simply to love and be loved for and as himself, intimately and completely. Why is this so hard for someone so sweet of temperament with such intelligence and depths of perception? Oscar is, after all, a gifted and talented writer. What is it to be a man, especially as defined by Hispanic culture? What does it take to get someone to overcome a lifetime of inertia and help himself to experience all that each and every human being has a basic human need, desire, and a right to enjoy?

These are just a few of the many and varied themes that Diaz explores in depth in this outstanding novel. The writing is fresh, original, and thoroughly enjoyable. Nicely paced.

This novel was a book group selection here at our local library. Some members of our group gave up reading the novel part way through mostly, I think, because of their reading experiences being limited to particular genres. After hearing the group's lively discussion, one person expressed the wish that she had seen it through.

One can be daunted by the Spanish phrases (and occasional references to literary, movie, or TV heroes) used by the characters and narrator to varying degrees throughout the text. They occur naturally and it would have been a great injustice to the work not to have employed them.

There are two easy solutions to this. One is to just go on reading and simply gain meaning through context. I found this functioned well with very little lost in overall plot and meaning.

Secondly, there are also some great online resources for the reading of this book which will conveniently translate, define, and otherwise explain references to Tolkien's works, etc. chapter by chapter. The meanings of individual sentences are thereby enhanced, but if one stops for each and every unknown Spanish term or literary reference, the enjoyment of the very act of reading and "listening" to the narrator as he shares his story becomes somewhat burdensome. For this reason, I suggest finding a middle ground between the two methods of reading. Use mostly context, and refer to a guide only when feeling really stumped.

Do not let that little caveat to reading keep you from enjoying this wonderful book.

Junot Diaz has so much to offer us In "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" that it may well change for the better the way you view your family, your neighbors, and the little daily interactions that become the sum total of our lives.

5 people found this helpful

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Thomas M. Skala

If you were in my game, I would give you an 18 charisma!!

Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2010

Verified Purchase

If you are looking for a formal, elegant, or pretty book, Oscar Wao is not for you. I am not saying that Junot Diaz is not a great writer, but Diaz has a way of writing this book, as one would tell someone else a story, very informally and up close and personal. He brings the lives of the characters into full view, regardless of the things they are doing. (Some things you may not want to hear about! AKA the hormonal impulses of teenagers...) Diaz has created characters that many people will not be able to relate to, but you will want to see these characters succeed, and when they do not, you will feel sorry for them.
Diaz has written a gateway into a world many people have never experienced, the dark side of life full of beatings and life-threatening situations, but also a world of heavy nerd-dom with references to The Lord of the Rings, and The Fantastic Four. Many readers have labeled this book as deeply depressing, but I feel that Diaz succeeds in writing depressive situations, yet having a small ray of hope at the end. Without giving away the ending, the main character's lives are shrouded with torment yet Diaz still brings happiness and love into their lives. The foul language used and the slang terms in Spanish disgust other people. The truth is, the use of this language does not detract from the book at all, but really, it helps the readers gain insight into the story, and in turn become closer the setting and the characters through these colloquialisms.
Having someone around who is fluent in Spanish is not necessary, as many words could easily be understood through the context in which they are used. Rarely does Diaz write a whole sentence in Spanish. Even then, a couple seconds on the internet could easily enlighten anyone. Foot notes can be extremely long, but they are also extremely funny and give good background information to the history of the Dominican Republic.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was a great book in my opinion, and I feel it was worthy of the Pulitzer Prize. Not only formal, elegant books who sound pretty and are devoid of all things disgusting and/or repulsive, should win the Pulitzer Prize. Diaz's book is truly a tragicomedy about the life of an uber-nerd, his family, and their unfortunate curse. This book treads where many dare not, yet Diaz's book borders real world conflicts, and left me with a feeling of amazement at the life of Oscar. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who can handle a few instances of bad language.

7 people found this helpful

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Nicola Cook

Important literature. Brutal sometimes but entertaining and great characters.

Reviewed in Canada on January 3, 2024

Verified Purchase

Bought as a gift for friend who loves great literature. Brilliant brilliant book based in the reality of D.R. Deserved the Pulitzer! Some heavy stuff but that’s life. Amazing characters that you get to know well and empathize with.

Lucia

Greatest book in recent years.

Reviewed in Spain on September 19, 2023

Verified Purchase

Now, here is at last a good book, a great book! Latin American realismo magico with a strong historical background and such a rich, rich wording. Real literature, words, not images. An author with his own voice, like no one else. I loved this book!

lucastulio

Pra quem prefere romances

Reviewed in Brazil on October 29, 2019

Verified Purchase

Apesar de ser um bom livro, e tendo lido os outros dois do autor, acho que o Junot Diaz se sai melhor no formato stories. Quatro estrelas para o conteúdo, e cinco pelo produto, arte da capa e leveza.

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DOLORES V PAREDES

Brutal

Reviewed in Mexico on April 6, 2018

Verified Purchase

Una interesante mezcla de culturas, lugares, creencias religiosas/supersticiosas, actitudes e idiomas, así como traer a colación esas referencias bastante nerds de cómics y libros de Tolkien.

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jgerardo23

Amazing book

Reviewed in France on March 6, 2019

Verified Purchase

One of the best books i read last year... it has everything, it's funny, dramatical, with some really interesseting history backround from from the Dominican Republic... and specially very well written

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