The Story Archive

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Junot Díaz · 2007 CE · Novel · Modern / American · Contemporary

Oscar de León, an overweight Dominican-American science-fiction fan in New Jersey, is in love with every girl he meets, and his family has long been under a fukú curse that goes back to the dictator Trujillo. Their story is told by Yunior in footnotes, Spanglish and nerd references. It won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and topped the BBC Culture 2015 critics' poll of the century's novels.

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Attributes

Genre
ComedyHistoricalComing-of-Age
Theme
Race & IdentityPower & CorruptionLoveIdentity & SelfExile & Homecoming
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
EverymanVillain / Tyrant
Plot type
Generational Saga
Form
Nonlinear / Fractured
Symbol / motif
The Book / ManuscriptThe Island
Conflict
vs Societyvs Fate / Gods
Mode / tone
Magical RealistComicSatirical
Culture / tradition
Modern / American

Closest analogues