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Tuesday, September 20, 2011

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao




I waited far too long to read this novel, which is a function of my long to-read list! Junot Diaz's writing is a wild ride. He tells a multi-generational story of a Dominican Republic family living under a fuku, or curse, and they are. If the term "multi-generational" is a turn-off, as it is to me, please take another look at this book. It is set in contemporary Patterson, NJ in an ex-pat DR community, and in the DR over many years. There is a lot of detailed history, both in the story and in in footnotes, of the brutal dictator, Trujillo. All of this is told in a crazy, hip lexicon. Oscar of the title is an over weight nerd finding his way in life and in this crazy family.

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