Book Review: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

By Jamey Leonard

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a novel that feels truly original. Author Junot Diaz somehow sneaks us inside the inner workings of a Domincan family and like the best of novels, by the end of the story, we feel as if we’ve been included.

A major backdrop of the story involves Dominican politics. Diaz’s hipster-prose analysis of Dominican history brings you into a living conversation like any History 101 professor dreams of doing. The seemingly mundane struggle of an un-cool junior high kid suddenly becomes a window into the story of a struggling nation.

It’s an epic about the next door neighbors.

Oscar Wao is cunning in its inclusion of archaic nerd-pop references from the 80s and 90s and still making them feel like they are part of “real literature.” Diaz uses *txt* tricks in his prose to make the story feel like it’s a living part of this generation, but the story never loses its feel of timelessness.

Oscar Wao is told right now. Its characters are our peers. Its history is recent, but foreign past. Diaz brings the reader into this neighbor-world gently; his prose is a true literary device – not mere trick or exercise. He seems to be saying, “Just because this isn’t Emily Post doesn’t mean it has less of an impact.” In fact, the freshness makes Oscar feel tangible and intimate.

Oscar Wao is full of deep characters you’d typically expect to brush by on the street: college studs, high school nerds, rebellious girls, protective moms. Yet Diaz reveals over time their struggles and depth, their power and vulnerability. With subtlety and grace underneath enviable modern dialogue and irony Diaz sinks his hook like a master and the game is over long before he tugs you aboard: You are connected to his characters you become a participant in their lives.

Oscar Wao becomes a story of a new group of friends who spill their deepest secrets over too much rum. You’re not sure you believe it all, but it sounds and feels to true to doubt.

Diaz is truly deserving of the Pulitzer Prize he received for this book. It’s easy to imagine footnotes in a 50th anniversary edition of Oscar Wao, explaining the context of the slang we so easily understand now, much like recent editions of Gatsby or Light in August. Oscar Wao is that good; you can imagine your grandkids having to read it in high school.