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)

Excellent in every way

This book has soul. Diaz creates an endearing, flawed group of characters, depicting them with humor and compassion. The narrator is so alive that he seemed to be a character himself. He truly is one of the best narrators I have heard, and my Audible library is large.

I am embarrasssed to admit that I did not know much about the history of the Dominican Republic before reading this book. Diaz wove the history into the story effortlessly and memorably. I highly recommend the book. It is one of the two best I have listened to, the other being The Hungry Tide, by Amitov Ghosh.

Wow. Not to be missed.

Modern, realistic, gritty, sensuous writing. I loved the layers, rich detail, and superb characterization in this story. A fabulous bittersweet story...I could relate to Oscar Wao on many levels....but also to his college roommate--the one telling the story. The narration is excellent. I know I'll listen to this book again. Well worth the price and the time.

Powerful

I loved the style of this author. My favorite books are those that let me get in the head and life of people unlike myself. This was well accomplished in this book. I came out with a greater understanding of what it would be like to live in a country with a cruel dictator and to see the colorful people who live and love through it all.

An impressive, if messy novel

I loved the narrator's voice, which mixed profanity-laden Dominican-American streetspeak with sci-fi and fantasy references. He conveyed a powerful sense of the loneliness that must belong to an overweight, undersexed nerd in an ethnic culture where such people are a laughable anomaly. The novel was even more compelling when it traveled back into the past and explored the history of Oscar's family back in the DR. This story was full of riveting scenes, like a father torn between bringing his beautiful daughters to a state ball, where the nation's terrible dictator (whom the narrator compares to JRR Tolkien's dark lord, Sauron) would be likely to rape them, and the dangerous indiscretion of NOT bringing them. The writing is so authentic, capturing the way people from the hood speak and think, but telling a story almost anyone can find something to connect to in -- who'd have thought Star Trek geeks, hip-hop fans, and Caribbean immigrants would find common cause in one novel.

Yet, I found that this book felt more like a patchwork of stories that never quite formed a cohesive whole. The story revolves around Oscar, but he never really becomes an engaging character, nor does his personal tale (mostly about his difficulties finding romance) ever assume the sense of importance that Diaz gives to the Dominican history and myth that he includes. In fact, I thought it was a mistake that Oscar wasn't given his own voice in the novel -- his D&D and science fiction obsessed perspective would have been quite interesting. Described from the head-shaking viewpoint of the narrator, Yunior, who is more of an archetypal Dominican-American male, he just sounds like a stereotype of a nerd.

Still, while aspects of this novel left me flat, it's so original in its concept and voice that it's worth reading just for that.

What a stupendous book

I'm sure Junot Diaz doesn't need to know my opinion, but he is a fantastic writer! This story is by turns hilarious, heartbreaking and astonishing. There are moments that make you hold your breath and wish better things for the characters. The use of language is unique and always compelling. Just a great book, well performed.

Bravo!!!!

This book is so beautifully written. I love all the historical facts. Junot's talent is to be praised. Hopefully, we will not have to wait for long for his next treasure.

A Mythical Trajedy

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

Among the top. This is on par with mythical or Shakespearean tragedies. This tale will poke and prod you, elbow you and nudge you, until you surrender and become enchanted, then disenchanted and finally converted into a follower of Junot Diaz's world. My take of this tale, is the way this world takes to Jesus - beautifully shocking.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Oscar Wao and the trigueña tri-fecta of La Inca, Beli and Lola.

What about Jonathan Davis and Staci Snell ’s performance did you like?

Pitch perfect. Never felt that they ever err'ed or made any missteps in communicating Diaz's words. And what I appreciated the most of their performances was their strong command of the spanish element of this tale.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were a few: Fuku and the History of the DR, Lola's story, and the time Oscar Wao spent in DR.

Any additional comments?

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a technicolor yawn of lyrical and masterful prose. It's no wonder it won the Pulitzer.

Loved this book

What made the experience of listening to The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao the most enjoyable?

I had no idea what this book was about, even from the description. The narrator captured the essence of the story and presented in quite and interesting and entertaining way.

What did you like best about this story?

References to the struggle of people of the Dominican Republic and how it still affects them to this day.

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

Absolutely!

Fanboy Lives Life On His Own Terms

This is a mainstream novel whose main character is a Science Fiction genre fanboy. There are regular references to Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and scattered other references to other SF standards. Clearly this is not a Science Fiction novel but anyone with a love for the genre will find much to relate to. The story is told in first person by another character in the book whose life is inextricably linked and, consequently, strongly impacted by Oscar. The title character is a nerdy, overweight geek from the Dominican Republic who does not fit in with the oversexed culture of his heritage. He spends his whole life searching for a meaningful relationship with a member of the opposite sex. In this, Oscar has a one-track-mind. This persistent focus on this subject is off-putting and detracts from what is otherwise a decent novel.

The main theme is parallel to the story "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" by Ernest Hemingway: A good hearted man struggles with either compromising his own identity to fit into the world in which he finds himself ~ or being true to himself and being ostracized from all he loves. The character Oscar is in most ways stereotypical of a Star Wars fanboy: he collects action figures; peppers his speech with quotes from obscure Science Fiction sources (most of which I recognized), and can't make it with a woman.

The narration is the best reason to tackle this book. Jonathan Davis handles the majority of the text, and Staci Snell takes on some of the sections that are presented from the perspective of female characters. Jonathan Davis has such a a large repertoire of character voices that he makes listening to this novel like hearing a movie soundtrack. His Dominican accents are, to my gringo ear, spot on and lend each different character a special place in the narrative.

Interesting - heartfelt

This would be a good read for High School kids so maybe they could have compassion about how other kids feel and think about themselves. The unpopular kid who feels sorry for himself but does nothing about it. It was a good story. Good narrator also.