Blurb for the back cover:
“Deeper and more complex than I had originally thought”

What can I possibly say about this book that hasn’t already been said. If you are familiar with the book world, then you know that Junot Diaz and his debut novel The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (TBAWLOOW) was published and quickly won the Pulitzer Prize and has found a comfortable place on the NY Times Bestsellers List.

For those not in the proverbial loop, TBAWLOOW is the story of Oscar, an overweight Dominican who can’t seem to get laid due to a curse on his family.

Yes, really. That is the plot of the book. As I read it I discovered the book to be deeper than I had originally thought, but that premise sums it up. When I started the book I assumed that the story would unfold through the eyes of Oscar. Instead the book switches perspectives and points in time to explain how Oscar got in to the situation he is in and his efforts to get out of it. Much of this story details Oscar’s family. His sister, mother, and grandfather all have a section of the book devoted to them which is something I was not aware of until I was reading the book.

One of the biggest annoyances with this book is that I do not speak Spanish. Since Oscar and his family are from the Dominican Republic, they are fluent in Spanish and often talk to each other in Spanish or use Spanish words or phrases mixed in with their English. The result of which is me not understanding what the characters are saying occasionally. This is by no means a reason to avoid the book. It’s my opinion that people who speak Spanish will get a little more out of this book than I did because it will be more authentic to them.

If you haven’t checked out this book yet I highly recommend it. It was a lot deeper and more complex than I had originally thought. Oscar, while the title character, shares the story with his family (and college roommate). Individually their stories do not work on their own. It is only when they are combined does the reader understand the full picture.

20 in 2009 Challenge: 2/20

Saturday, February 7th, 2009 at 4:35 pm.
Filed under: Book Review, Thoughts on Books.