num_pages: 335
description: 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 Fukœ—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.
language: English
title: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
titlecomplete: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
characters: La Inca, Ybón Pimentel, Yunior de Las Casas, Dr Abelard Luis Cabral, Lola de León, Hypatía Belicia "Beli" Cabral de León, Oscar de León
genres: Magical Realism, Adult, Novels, Historical Fiction, Literature, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, Book Club
ratings_count: 259377
places: Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey (United States), Paterson, New Jersey, Santiago, Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, New York City, New York, Samaná, Dominican Republic, Washington Heights, New York, Baní, New Jersey
awards: awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: Pulitzer Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: Massachusetts Book Award
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: Los Angeles Times Book Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: Dayton Literary Peace Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: National Book Critics Circle Award
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: Hurston/Wright Legacy Award
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: The Rooster -- The Morning News Tournament of Books, awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: The Center for Fiction, awardedAt: 1230796800000
name: Dublin Literary Award
publisher: Riverhead Books