9/100: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz

I'm really tempted to just say "This book is amazing, so please, do yourself a favor and go buy a copy of it right now," and leave it at that. No amount of praise I heap on The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao could adequately convey to you just how fucking good this book is.

I might as well try, though.

Wao is funny. It's smart, both streetwise and philosophically. Most importantly, though, it's honest. It unflinchingly describes the characters, the trials they face, and social and political unrest of the Dominican Republic in the past 50 years as well as the United States' implicit role. The narrative weaves in and out of the 1940's through the present day, though not in that order, and not always from the same person's perspective. The story itself is a brilliant mix of heartbreak and triumph and more heartbreak, pain, brutality, and hilarity. It's a coming-of-age-story not only about the titular Oscar, but also his sister, mother, and best friend, but to dismiss it as only that would be a huge disservice to Diaz. In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Diaz crafts one of the most impressive narrators, an incomparable voice who bulldozes through generations of history to explain the fuku that has haunted Oscar's family for decades, and just why our hero's life was so brief, yet wondrous.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot; as someone who started the book with literally no clue what it was about, I loved the way the story unwound without knowing what was coming next. I skimmed over the back cover, which is almost misleading given the depth of the story, but the basic premise is this: Oscar is an overweight nerd growing up in a New Jersey ghetto who dreams of writing the next sci-fi classic novel. He has terrible luck with girls and can't get a date to save his life, much to the chagrin of his Dominican family. His situation is blamed on the family curse - the fuku - that follows him to college and beyond, and finally back to the Dominican Republic. All the while, the family history is recounted by the primary narrator, Oscar's friend (and older sister's more-than-friend) Yunior.

If you're looking for an anecdote to all of the sugary sweetness you ingested over the holidays - a book that takes a smart, biting, tender look at familial and first love - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is perfect. I could go on and on and on, but the only thing I need to tell you is that this book is amazing, so please, do yourself a favor and go buy a copy of it right now.