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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Woa

**__ About the Book __** The title of the book I have read is //The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao//. This book was written by Junot Diaz. This book was published in 2007, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008. This book’s setting varies, but it is in New Jersey, Santo Domingo, and Rutgers University. The time of the story also varies but is during the years of 1944-1946, 1955-1962, and from 1974-1995.This book tells a long and heartfelt story of a Dominican American family and friends live throughout certain periods of time. The family’s crazy behavior and humorous amount of bad luck keeps the story interesting and enjoyable to read. The Dominican American family is made up of Oscar, the son, Belicia, the mother, and Lola, the daughter. Oscar and Lola are friends with a boy named Yunior, who was Oscar’s roommate in college and Lola’s ex-boyfriend.

**__ ‍‍About the Author ‍‍ __** The author of //The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao// is Junot Diaz. Junot Diaz is a professor at MIT, and has also written the book //Drown// which was published in 1996. //Drown// had gotten Junot nominated for the QBP “New Voices” award in 1997. Junot Diaz was born in Santo Doming in 1968, and moved to New Jersey at age six. In Santo Domingo he lived with his mother and four other siblings. His father lived and worked in the United States. In 1974, Junot moved to Parlin, New Jersey and re-united with his father once again. He graduated from high school in 1987, and then attended Kean College for one year, but then transferred to Rutgers University in 1992. He majored in English and met Toni Morrison and Sandra Cisneros, both very famous authors, who would motivate him to write books later on in his life. Junot Diaz was also appointed to be on the 20 member Pulitzer Prize board of jurors, and Junot is the first Latino to be appointed to the panel.

**__ Characters and Conflict __** The main characters throughout the story, Oscar, Lola, Yunior, and Belicia, face challenges throughout their lives. Oscar, the most troubled one, mostly has problems with himself being an overweight Dominican nerd, who cannot get a girlfriend and at some points in his life becomes depressed and has a few failed suicide attempts. Oscar does have a couple chances to have a girlfriend, but they do not end well. Also, to make those chances worse, he does not handle the disappointment of the loss of the chance of having a girlfriend. Both Lola and Yunior look out for Oscar because of his failed suicide attempts. Yunior though, has trouble because of their completely different personalities. Yunior is a player who gets all the girls he wants, and works out and is very physically fit. Belicia’s story is all about her growing up with boyfriends and even a gangster who is married to one of the leaders on the Dominican Republic.

**__ Theme __** The quest for love can be very long and troublesome, but it is not determined by how many partners you do or do not have in life, but by finding the end of the quest by finding the true love.

**__ Destiny Review __ ** Overall, I thought that //The Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao// was well chosen to be a winner of the Pulitzer Prize. This book has a very well written modernized use of diction that any teenager can relate to. The events in the book are very easy to relate to, and kept me interested in what would happen next. With Junot Diaz telling about multiple lives keeps the story from becoming boring and easily predictable story. Just when you would think that Oscar thinks he is happy, something erratic happens.