The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

By: Junot Diaz

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Staci Snell

Length: 16 hrs

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2008

National Book Critics Circle Award, Fiction, 2008

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 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.

Also includes the bestselling short story collection Drown.

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

Critic reviews

"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)

a fun tragedy

this is a tale is told in a way that makes the sad story an adventure of a lifetime. my favourite element was the storytelling, the use of expressions and dialect made the story feel familiar and real. I loved how it all plays out, our doomed protagonist truly is wondrous like the great tragedies of the Greeks.

surprising and realistic

Everything about this story is unexpected, from the title to the ending. A must-read.

a funny, romance with historical background

learned a lot about Dominica history, kept my interest with honest language, people who you could know. Very funny just wanted less profanity.

beautifully written but took too long to conclude

Where does The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I love the writing and the story-- Learned enough about The Dominican to want to learn more

Language

Would you listen to The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao again? Why?

Being a white male I found it hard to follow the narrative whilst listening to the book, I needed the footnotes which I didn't have, so I missed a lot of contexts. Had I understood the language better it's possible I would have enjoyed the audiobook more? So the story gets a 2 because I couldn't connect, but the performance was good and overall a 4-star experience.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Secretly Seduced

Have you listened to any of Jonathan Davis and Staci Snell ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not.

Any additional comments?

Good experience overall, not worth the cost at this time.

Nearly F-ing Perfect Modern Masterpiece

Talent hits a target no one else can hit, Genius hits a target no one else can see. This novel hits the target of genius. When I rate stars, 3=good, 4=very good, 5=great. This is one of those rare books that I can’t rate highly enough.

Within the first few minutes I was hooked and finished this book in a day. Wao has great writing and great narration. There are a lot of award winning novels that leave me totally flat. Most highly touted books in the Magical Realism genre don’t impress me at all. This is superb magical realism! I love the writer’s narration style and the beautiful non-temporal character development. I am an ubergeek and enjoyed the many geek references. I am not Dominican and enjoyed the Dominican slang and references.

This book has adult themes and language including F, S, and lots of N. If this might disturb you, you may want to get over it, or skip this wonderful book.

A True Masterwork, Must Listen

This amazing book blew the roof off the house, and made other pretenders look like amateurs.

Diaz has huge ambition, and he delivers with every page. Upon finishing this sprawling, inventive, tour de force, I was not once bit surprised to find that it had won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize.

Do not be put off by some of the absurd and ridiculous comments posing as review. Some people shouldn't write about things they don't understand.

Strap yourself in and get ready for a ride with a master behind the wheel.

A wondrous read

I found this book fascinating. Oscar reminded me of many of my friends; a geek trying to find his place in the world and trying to be what he was supposed to, as per his Dominican background promotes. The way the story brings these cultural elements, superstitions and way of life hit a little to close, but I think the author kept a great balance. Although at times the attempts at a spanish accent were jarring, the narrator finally got into the groove and did a great job at bringing Oscar to life.

What was the point?

For one, I think you should be able to speak Spanish to get the full effect of the book. The print copy may have subtitles. You can figure most of it by context, but not all.
The history of Dominicans and some of the racial backgrounds and interactions are great. However, the characters and their histories are miserable, without hope and really depressing. You know its not going to end well by the title, but the dump of suffering and torture is endless, and sometimes pointless.

Wonderful!

This started out like a modern day Catcher in the Rye (Hispanic version), which was fine by me. Then the author took the novel to an even higher level when he moved into Oscar's family history and how the family history was tied into the history of the Dominican Republic. The voices of Oscar's family members were powerful, and the performers captured the characters perfectly.
The book is filled with Spanglish, which enriches the reading experience and the English language. The writing is impressive.
This book changed my assumptions, beliefs and emerging understanding of Hispanic culture. One of the best books I have read and/or listened to in a long while.