The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Super good. A smart, sensitive portrayal of a 1980s immigrant nerd, Oscar, with amazingly depthful portrayals of the 1980s, immigrant communities, and nerdery.

I read this book after hearing that it was a smart look at being a POC nerd and how hard/alienating that can be. I don't pretend to know, though I have sometimes felt alienated for being a female nerd - so I can imagine. The protagonist, Oscar, is your very standard nerdy dude: imagine him in a fedora and neckbeard, hopelessly and passionately romantic, a very “Nice Guy” in the not so great meaning of the phrase. What I was surprised by was the sparkling originality of how Junot Diaz weaves together 20th century Dominican history, multi-generational dramas, and nerdery. When he refers to Dominican dictator, Rafael Trujillo, as manipulating the Dominican Republic like his “own personal Mordor” - when one of his goons is described as scarier than the “Witch King of Angmar” - I was like, WAHT. It was double-take-inducing, dizzying. It was FUN. It was also, as fiction is wont to be, such an empathy-building machine.

This book sort of reminded me of Zadie Smith's White Teeth, and Chimamanda Adichie Ngozi's Americanah - post-colonial, a smart portrayal of both the US/UK and the home country, many generations, bittersweetness. I couldn't really buy the grand finale of this, but it was a 5-star experience anyway. Oh yes, and narrated by Lin-Manuel Miranda - who better to capture earnest geekery and Latino pride?! V v good.