The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

By: Junot Diaz

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Staci Snell

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.

©2007 Junot Diaz (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. and Books on Tape

Critic reviews

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

"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)

Fabulous listen

"Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride." It's a fantastic and great ride. The book is a journey in time and space, through New Jersey, the Dominican Republic, and fantasy worlds. Oscar, the main character, is a fat-boy nerd from New Jersey with Dominican Republic roots. The grip of that heritage is the focus of the book. The book is full of violence and profanity, both of which are used with purpose. The book's untranslated Spanish phrases and nerd-references to (for example) the Matrix, might describe a slightly unintelligible world, depending on the listener. But being an outsider is one of the themes of the book. The book's fierce in-your-face voice ratchets up the story's torque and pulls you along, forcing you to observe Oscar's pathetic, miserable, but ultimately (if strangely) uplifting journey. This was perfectly narrated and a great listen. Bottom line -- this is not a book for everyone. The world of Oscar Wao is not a joy ride. It's a jagged, gritty, but wonderful trip.

Great narration

I own both the audio and hard copy of this book. I found it easier to listen to than to read because of the numerous fine-print footnotes in the hard copy.

The narrator is great! The story is good, but so much of the book is in Spanish that a lot of the time I'm just guessing at what the author was probably saying (since I don't speak Spanish). The writing, however, is truly original-- unlike anything else I've read.

Well Written But....

This book was very well written and enjoyable for the most part, but I think it would be best enjoyed by someone that has more intrested in the Dominican Republic than I do. The core story held my intrest, but I think I missed a lot of the story especially when they broke into Spanish without explanation to their non-Spanish speaking audiance.

Alright, but didn't live up to the hype

An amusing novel about a sci-fi loving virgin from Jersey, following him on his journey of life and love. For those in the know, it reminded me of a fictional ChrisChan. It does have quite a few Spanish words and phrases (some of which I wasn't able to figure out) and deals heavily with Dominican culture; while knowledge in these areas would enable you to fully appreciate the book, it's not essential. While I didn't find this book as good as advertised, it has a special place in my heart for talking about all the "sexy Dominicanas in Jersey City."

a cultural plunge

Great reading and voice that makes the times, the people and the story come alive - congratulations. And not knowing much about the DR's history, it was a great way to learn about cruelty, jealousy and triumph. And I sure like Oscar.

Wow Wow Wao!!!

What did you love best about The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao?

Loved the story, loved the characters, loved the dialogue, loved the history, loved the descriptions. This was a fabulous book. I was totally enthralled begining to end.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I drove around the block a couple of times just to get a little more listening in.

Any additional comments?

This is a not to be missed listen. Fabulous descriptions and character development. The historical, political aspect was interesting and completely weaved into the story. I don't speak Spanish but I got a good feel for what was being said within the context of the phrase. A wonderfully visual multigenerational story.

Diaz is the man

A terrific reading of a spellbinding, layered, ambitious, wildly entertaining and interesting novel.

Incredible

I absolutely loved it. Junot Diaz is my new favorite author. The characters were fantastic. Not a single stereotype in the group. The first person narration is witty and gritty. Although our narrator is opinionated he did not get in the way of the story instead he enhanced it. The way he wove the pop culture in with the culture of the Dominicano people was brilliant. There was a folkloric aspect to the story that drew you in from the very beginning. I haven't loved an author like this in while. Much?simo gracias Se?or Diaz, su libro es incre?ble!
April (Wife of Alberto)

A very interesting book and enjoyable.

If you tried to read the actual book and didn't get it due to your lack of Spanish skills this should help. You could listen and Google words as they come lol.

A very charming and enjoyable performance.

Brilliant!

A fresh voice - beguiling and fascinating characters - historic setting. I was worried that they hype for the book would overshadow the writing. The book wasn't what I expected, it constantly surprised, but in inventive, fresh ways. This is smart contemporary fiction with heart.