Things have never been easy for Oscar. A ghetto nerd living with his Dominican family in New Jersey, he's sweet but disastrously overweight. He dreams of becoming the next J.R.R. Tolkien and he keeps falling hopelessly in love. Poor Oscar may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fuku - the ancient curse that has haunted his family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, violent accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. With dazzling energy and insight Diaz immerses us in the tumultuous lives of Oscar; his runaway sister Lola; their beautiful mother Belicia; and in the family's uproarious journey from the Dominican Republic to the US and back. Rendered with uncommon warmth and humour, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao presents an astonishing vision of the endless human capacity to persevere - and to risk it all - in the name of love.
Accolades
Winner of Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2008.
Winner of John Sargent Snr First Novel Prize 2007.
Shortlisted for International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2009.
Shortlisted for National Book Critics Circle Awards: Fiction 2008.
Author Biography
Junot Diaz was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He is a graduate of Rutgers University and received his Master of Fine Arts Degree from Cornell University. His collection of short stories, Drown, was described as "a dazzlingly talented first book" by Hermione Lee in the Independent on Sunday. He teaches creative writing at MIT (Massachussetts Institute of Technology).
