The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

I was really impressed with Junot Diaz's short story collection Drown and was excited to read his first novel given all the positive buzz it was receiving. It, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, did not disappoint. It is a difficult novel to describe because it is many stories in one: coming of age, family saga, the immigrant experience, and the story of the Dominican Republic. The structure goes back and forth from the perspective of Oscar's sister would-be-lover to various points of view from his sister, mother, and Oscar himself.  The story is informed by the infamous rule of the Dominican Republic by the despot Trujillo: complete with footnotes ala David Foster Wallace. Oscar's story is tragic but also endearing in a way.  An overweight socially awkward sci-fi geek, who is a far as you can get from the macho womanizing stereotype of the Latino male as you can get, which might have been Diaz's point in the end.  It is a very easy to read as Diaz mixes the polyglot languages of Spanish, street vernacular and Standard English throughout. This lively, engaging novel is worthy of the many accolades that it has already received.