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  • Intense Character Study

  • Great story of a born loser who becomes quite the sympathetic underdog. Lots of interesting parallels to popular science fiction. Some of the Spanish was tricky but not confusing. (My high school Spanish for the most part is evasive.) Interesting Dominican historial bits. Great read.

    "The ... Continue

    Great story of a born loser who becomes quite the sympathetic underdog. Lots of interesting parallels to popular science fiction. Some of the Spanish was tricky but not confusing. (My high school Spanish for the most part is evasive.) Interesting Dominican historial bits. Great read.

    "They walked him into the cane and then turned him around. He tried to stand bravely. . . Love was a rare thing, easily confused with a million other things, and if anybody knew this to be true it was him."

    

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• ― Bibliophile (jjordan) said on Jun 13, 2009 about the Paperback edition| Add your feedback

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  • The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao

  • A raw and moving tale of life in the Dominican Republic under the rule of Rafael Trujillo, the effect on Dominican-Americans, and one family's struggle under the weight of a multi-generational curse.

    

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• ― Readingrat said on Apr 20, 2008 about the Hardcover edition| Add your feedback

This is the long-awaited first novel from one of the most original and memorable writers working today. Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fuku - the curse that has haunted the Oscar's family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still waiting for his first kiss, is just its most recent victim. Diaz immerses us in the tumultuous life of Oscar and the history of the family at large, rendering with genuine warmth and dazzling energy, humor, and insight the Dominican-American experience, and, ultimately, the endless human capacity to persevere in the face of heartbreak and loss. A true literary triumph, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao confirms Junot Diaz as one of the best and most exciting voices of our time.

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