The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao / Junot Diaz

Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (call #: FIC DIAZ) is the nominally the coming-of-age story of Oscar, a nerdy sci-fi/gaming aficionado who lives with his mother and sister in Patterson, New Jersey. Oscar talks like a character from a book, spends most of his time involved in role-playing fantasy games and writing space opera books, and, despite all his painful yearnings, he never, never gets the girl.

Casting a shadow over Oscar's story is the legacy of the family's fuku -- or family curse -- that may or may not have followed his mother all the way to America from Santo Domingo. The author uses Oscar's story as an entry-point into the stories of his tough-as-nails mother, Beli, and his compassionate, rebellious sister Lola. The characters move back and forth between New Jersey and the Dominican Republic, and through them the author tells the story of the way that the dictator Trujillo affected the Dominican people and created the Dominican diaspora. Diaz includes lots of fascinating references to Dominican history and culture in his story. The story moves quickly, and each character has his/her own engaging voice. Diaz is equally comfortable using references to minutia of The Lord of the Rings as New Jersey street life. He's funny and edgy, but he maintains a profound empathy for his characters. I highly recommend this book!