This novel tells the story of Oscar De Leon (I'll let you read the novel to learn how he gets the nickname Wao), a Dominican-American growing up in 1980's New Jersey. He's no ordinary boy as he's overweight, enamored with science fiction and role-playing games, and a talented writer determined to become the "Dominican Tolkien." The references comic books and gaming terms are about the same level of confusing as the colloquial Spanish sprinkled through the book. He's also terminally lovelorn, unable to find a girl who will return his affection and devotion.

Despite such a compelling title character, much of this novel is about his family with sections devoted to his attractive and popular sister, Oscar and Lola's mother Belicia who was also tragically naive in matters of love, and Belicia's father Abelard a successful doctor who meets a grizzly fate. The overarching theme of the book is the fuku - or curse - that lies upon the De Leon family, and the menacing, omnipresence of Trujillo, the dictator whose cruel reign bloodied the Dominican Republic from 1930-1961. The novel is full of lengthy footnotes about the Trujillo Era that are almost as compelling as the main text

Much of the novel is narrated by Yunior, Oscar's college roommate, who attempts to befriend Oscar out of love for Lola but comes to respect Oscar for himself. Other portions are narrated by Lola and perhaps a third-person narrator. I think I would have liked the book even better if Oscar played more of a role in the story and the reader could hear his voice more directly. The structure of the novel does work well though, unfolding different portions of the De Leon family curse in a non-linear form. ( )

In many ways the book was the story of the misery which extends through generations once instigated, in this case by violent dictatorship. It was also the story of the struggle to find home and love once it's been lost. That struggle is pursued in various different ways by different characters, Oscar being the most direct. It was written in a very colloquial English/Spanish. An excellent book with a story that captured my interest. ( )

[The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao], by Junot Diaz.

So, I finally finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. The Prologue was off-putting. All that tiny print about people I have never heard of (which should have been educational, but didn't really sink in...) and Spanish phrases thrown in (huh?) everywhere. This chica doesn’t ablo and I felt a lot of key points were made in Spanish and I missed them all! The story is weird and depressing, and told in three voices, no four -- I forgot the unidentified Prologue voice. Okay, well it is identified, but only much later. Did I learn anything about the Dominican Republic during this time period? Yes, but I would have rather read a textbook. The only reason I finished the darn thing was so I wouldn’t be a slacker in my book group. STOP. Skip the next paragraph if you don’t want the ending spoiled.

The characters all have tragic lives. There’s no real redemption at the end. Oscar finally finds “true love” and then dies for it. On second thought, it’s not really a spoiler: Oscar has a “Brief Wondrous Life,” remember? It says so in the title.

Spoiler over…There’s lots of crude language. The prominent family in the story is haunted by a fukú, which I guess means they are cursed, or fu**ed as the case may be. That’s how I felt having to read this book. Put me in a right bad mood. Normally I only give a one-star for books I don’t finish, and I did actually finish this, but it still gets only one star because I was so irritated by it. ( )

heartbreaking book. the sadness just oozed off the pages. ( )

When I began reading this I didn't expect to finish it. The angst of a teenage boy, told in crude language and sprinkled liberally with Spanish slang and idioms, didn't appeal to me at all. However, since it won a Pulitzer and has been widely praised I decided to read a few chapters before closing it, and I'm so glad I did.

It's weird to say this in light of what I wrote above, but this is one beautifully written book. The language is lilting, and the dialogue so natural the characters jump out at the reader. It's easy to imagine this read aloud. The time jumps are a little hard to follow, probably because I know little of Dominican history. Otherwise, my overall reaction: WOW! ( )