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Jul 27, 2018RogerDeBlanck rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Staying rooted in his Dominican heritage, Junot Diaz's first novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, traces the source of an ancient Caribbean curse called the "fuku." The title character and his family are its final victims. Oscar is an overweight, science-fiction-loving geek who churns out book-length manuscripts in his spare time as an escape mechanism to overcome his tough luck at not finding a love interest. Narrated by Yunior, a former boyfriend of Oscar’s sister, the novel takes on a distinctively colloquial voice that is expertly delivered and heartbreakingly genuine. The narrative is unapologetic with its bombastic sexual exploits as Yunior's recollection of events takes the story on tangents from the projects in New Jersey back to the barrios in the Dominican Republic. Diaz is a master at developing and exploring characters. He tells of the curse’s influence on Belicia (Oscar’s mother), Lola (his sister), and La Inca (his grandmother). Finally, the story comes full circle and returns to witness the fuku’s impact on Oscar. This novel meditates with great insight into Dominican culture and the acculturation of first generation Dominicans in America, while also confronting the atrocities of the past. The overall wit and dark humor would be enough to carry this amazing novel through to its end. But Diaz's creativity bursts with passion off every page. Each of this sentences and metaphors are poetic treasures. This novel truly flexes Diaz's literary strength with his gift of language and voice. It is a memorable reading experience.