4 of 5 members found this review helpful.
“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao turned into a much more interesting book than I had originally expected after the first couple of chapters. At first I wasn't convinced of the book's supposed greatness-- a story about a fat Dominican nerd in New Jersey? But the story quickly became so much more. In its "here's the D.R. during Trujillo" it reminds me most of the book it at one point references, "In the Time of the Butterflies". In it's unsparing look at political violence, it called to mind Louis de Bernières' Latin American Trilogy-- particularly "Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord". The voices and multiple story threads are excellent-- the primary narrator, especially, carries the reader through the varied terrain of the narrative. As much as I really enjoyed the book, I'm not sure I'd recommend it to everyone, or at least not to readers who don't get thoroughly excited about learning new "malas palabras" and Spanish slang for female body parts and what one can do to and or with them. I thought it rocked, but it might not work for everyone.”
