The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: Difference between revisions
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Arlohaskell (talk | contribs) Added external links section; linked to KWLS podcast |
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NPR: [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14004835] |
NPR: [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14004835] |
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==External links== |
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* [http://www.kwls.org/lit/podcasts/2008/01/junot_diaz_january_18_2008.cfm Podcast: Junot Díaz reading from <i>The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,</i> with commentary. From the Key West Literary Seminar, 2008.] |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 17:38, 21 July 2008
 First edition hardcover | |
| Author | Junot Díaz |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Riverhead |
Publication date | September 6, 2007 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 352 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 1594489580 Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007) is a novel written by Dominican-American author Junot Díaz. Although a work of fiction, the novel draws heavily from his rough childhood in New Jersey and his homeland's experience under dictator Rafael Trujillo.[1] It has received numerous positive reviews from critics and went on to win numerous prestigious awards in 2008, such as the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.[2]
Plot introduction
The novel chronicles not just the "brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao," an overweight Dominican boy growing up in New Jersey and obsessed with science fiction, fantasy and women, but also the curse of the "fukú" that has plagued Oscar's family for generations and the Caribbean since colonization and slavery. The middle sections of the novel center on the lives of Oscar's mother Beli and his grandfather Abelard under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Rife with footnotes, science fiction and fantasy references, and street Spanglish, the novel is also a meditation on story-telling, Dominican diaspora and identity, masculinity, and the contours of authoritarian power.
Critical reception
The book won the National Book Critics Circle Award as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2008. Time magazine's Lev Grossman named it #1 of the Top 10 Fiction Books of 2007, praising it as "a massive, heaving, sparking tragicomedy".[3]
Interviews
Slate: [1]
Powells: [2]
Other Voices: [3]
NPR: [4]
NPR: [5]
External links
References
- ^ Stetler, Carrie (2008-04-07). "Pulitzer winner stays true to Jersey roots". The Star Ledger. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Muchnick, Laurie (2008-04-07). "Junot Diaz's Novel, 'Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,' Wins Pulitzer". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Grossman, Lev. "Top 10 Fiction Books". Time Magazine Online. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
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