The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
[2009]
ISBN: 9781594483295
Read-Alikes
Discussion Questions
Related Resources
Read-Alikes & Movies
Many annotations courtesy of WorldCat
Fiction
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
In the 1960s, political tension forces the García family away from Santo Domingo and towards
the Bronx. The sisters all hit their strides in America, adapting and thriving despite cultural
differences, language barriers, and prejudice. But Mami and Papi are more traditional, and they
have far more difficulty adjusting to their new country.
In the Name of Salome by Julia Alvarez
Inspired by real events, this sweeping novel spans 100 years & the lives of a heroic woman
whose poetry inspired one Caribbean revolution, and her daughter whose dedication to teaching
strengthened another.
Yo! by Julia Alvarez
The American odyssey of Yo, a Dominican woman writer whose family arrived in the U.S. as
refugees from a dictatorship. The novel follows her youth, with its energy and optimism, and the
setbacks as she grows older, including two divorces.
Let it Rain Coffee: A Novel by Angie Cruz
Flashing between past and present, this is a sweeping novel about love, loss, family, and the
elusive nature of memory and desire, set amid the crosscurrents of the history and culture that
shape our past and govern our future.
Drown by Junot Diaz (short stories)
Stories set in the Dominican Republic and in New Jersey. In "Ysrael," a boy is disfigured by a
pig, "No Face" is on his trip to America to undergo plastic surgery, and "How to Date" is on the
art of dating interracially.
Muddy Cup: A Dominican Family Comes of Age in New America by Barbara Fischkin
(nonfiction)
Traces the challenges faced by four generations of a Dominican family after leaving their
poverty-stricken country under the dictator, Trujillo, and arriving in Queens, New York.
Geographies of Home by Loida Maritza Perez
A Dominican family with fourteen children tries to succeed in the United States.
Song of the Water Saints by Nelly Rosario
A debut novel chronicling the lives of three generations of remarkable Dominican women ranges
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
[2009]
ISBN: 9781594483295
from the early 1900s to the present day as it follows Graciela, who flees the strictures of her
poverty-stricken rural life; her daughter Mercedes, who builds a new life in New York City; and
Leila, a restless young woman coming of age in the high-spirited 1990s.
Other titles that take place during Rafael Trujillo's dictatorship:
In the Time of Butterflies, Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
Based on real events, this is the story of the life and death of three revolutionary sisters in the
Dominican Republic, told by a surviving fourth. One by one the Mirabal Sisters, as they were
known, join the opposition to the Trujillo dictatorship in the 1950s, suffering imprisonment and
torture while their men watch powerless.
General Sun, My Brother by Jacques Stephen Alexis
A novel on the exploitation of the poor in the Caribbean. Forced to work as a sugar-cane cutter in
the Dominican Republic, a Haitian peasant participates in a strike which ends in a massacre.
The Farming of Bones: A Novel by Edwidge Danticat
In 1937, on the Dominican side of the Haiti border, Amabelle, an orphaned maid to an army
colonel's wife, falls in love with Sebastien, an itinerant sugarcane cutter, but their relationship is
threatened by the violent persecution of the Haitians.
The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa
Returning to her native Dominican Republic, forty-nine-year-old Urania Cabral discovers that
Rafael Trujillo, the depraved dictator called "the Goat" by the Dominicans, still reigns over his
inner circle, which includes Urania's father, with brutality and blackmail, but soon an uprising
against him will result in a revolution that will have profound consequences.
Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The discovery of a South American dictator's rotting corpse in the deserted tangle of his
crumbling palace prompts a search through his past and a colorful chronicle of his progression
from popular, beloved, unafraid ruler to isolated, frightened despot.
Massacre River by Rene Philoctete
A tale set against a backdrop of 1937's massacre of thousands of Haitians under the orders of
power-mad generalissimo Trujillo finds the loving interracial marriage of Dominican Pedro and
Haitian Adèle shattered when a group of soldiers arrive in their Dominican border town intent on
murdering Haitian citizens.
They Forged the Signature of God by Viriato Sencion
A chilling picture of internal politics in the Dominican Republic, became that country's bestselling ever work of fiction. Tracing the lives of three seminarians persecuted by Church and
state, allegory and gallows humor portray political power gone awry.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
[2009]
ISBN: 9781594483295
And read-alikes from other cultures:
I'll Steal You Away by Niccolo Ammaniti
Growing up in an Italian village, Pietro is ignored by his parents and suffers the torment of
bullies, but the arrival of an aging playboy, Graziano Biglia, helps Pietro realize that only by
leaving home can he become the man he should be.
The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat
A scarred Brooklyn resident remembers his past life as a Haitian torturer in the 1960s, a period
during which he waged personal and political battles before moving to New York, where his past
continued to haunt him.
Celestial Harmonies by Peter Esterhazy
The novelist chronicles the history of his own remarkable family, the Esterházys, within the
framework of a historical narrative that captures the emotional ties between generations of the
aristocratic dynasty and the history of Europe, especially within the context of the twentieth
century, as the Esterházys dealt with the Communist takeover of Hungary.
Knots by Nuruddin Farah
Returning to her native home in Somalia after being raised in North America and suffering a
failed marriage, self-reliant Cambara struggles to reclaim her family's home from a warlord and
finds support from a group of women activists.
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Complicated family history, experiments with language and means of expression, cultural
alienation, storyline moving back and forth in time, racial issues. The more one reads in The
Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the more various aspects of the novel seem to echo another
work. If you have not read Faulkner's novel about the Compson family (could they have been
afflicted with a fukú?), now might be a good time to immerse yourself in the richness and
complexity of the Mississippi Delta.
Consumption by Kevin Patterson
Spanning countries, generations, and cultures, this is an epic novel of the Arctic, and a
penetrating portrait of generational division and cultural dissonance.
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz
After his father's death, Jasper reflects on Martin Dean, the man who had raised him in
intellectual captivity and who had spent his entire life analyzing absolutely everything, and
describes his father's failed battle to make a lasting impression on the world.
Related Movies

My American Girls by Aaron Matthews, aired on PBS POV
In vivid detail, MY AMERICAN GIRLS captures the joys and struggles in a year of the
lives of the Ortiz family, first-generation immigrants from the Dominican Republic (DR).
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
[2009]
ISBN: 9781594483295

Matthews' funny and touching film captures the rewards and costs of pursuing the
American dream. From hard-working parents, who imagine retiring to their rural
homeland, to their American-born daughters, caught between their parents' values and
their own, the film encompasses the contradictions of contemporary immigrant life. A
Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) Co-presentation." http://www.filmakers.com
Dominican Ball Players, a part of the New Americans Series on PBS.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/newamericans/newamericans/dominican_intro.html
Discussion Questions
Links to Discussion Questions:
http://www.bookbrowse.com/reading_guides/detail/index.cfm?book_number=2043
More thoughts for discussion:
1. What do you remember from your own high school English courses? What is the theme
of the book? What reason do you think the author had for writing this book?
2. Why do you think this book was chosen for the Pulitzer? What element(s) of the writing
sets it apart from other selections?
3. Did the use of Spanish intermittently in the text enhance the reading experience for you?
If you are knowledgeable in Spanish, did you find it enjoyable; if not, were you able to
piece together what was going on?
4. There are many references to The Lord of the Rings (ringwraiths), Dungeons & Dragons
(hit points) and comic books (Watchmen). Did you understand these references? What
kind of books did you enjoy as a teenager? Was there a family member, friend, or
librarian that you remember putting the perfect book for you in your hands? What book
was it?
5. Which story within this story did you like best? We hear the stories of Beli, Lola, Yunior,
and Oscar at various times. Was there one story that connected the rest for you?
6. The identity of the narrator is unknown until a good way into the story. Were you
surprised at who the narrator was? Did his point of view, and his understanding of events
for which he wasn't present, work for you? Is he a reliable narrator?
7. Why did Yunior feel he had to write this book in tribute to Oscar's life? (On page 329
Yunior compares himself to the Watcher; the quote from the Fantastic Four at the start of
the book gives some insight into his mindset. This Wikipedia articles gives some
background information on what a Watcher is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watcher_(comics).)
8. Did you like Oscar? Could you empathize with him? How about the other members of his
family and his few friends?
9. The book opens with a quote from the Fantastic Four and a poem by Derek Walcott. Part
two opens with an excerpt from La Nacion. How do these unrelated works relate to the
narrative? Why did the author choose these three works by other authors to include in his
work in this way?
10. Did the footnotes describing the history of the Dominican Republic help you to
understand the world the characters lived in? Would you have missed them if they
weren't included?
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
[2009]
ISBN: 9781594483295
11. Is Oscar's family really cursed? Instead, are we destined to repeat the mistakes of our
parents?
12. How did the story of Beli and Oscar parallel each other? Could either of them have
escaped their fate?
13. Fuku is a part of the Dominican way of life. It began with the arrival of the Europeans
and continues through the reign of Trujillo. Do you think that believing you are cursed
affects how you live your life?
14. "Zafa" is the word, the counterspell, to keep you and yours safe from the fuku. The
narrator wonders "if this book ain't a zafa of sorts. My own counterspell." Why did he
write this story? How is this a counterspell for him?
15. Did you recognize any of the New Jersey settings in the book? Do you like reading books
set in places you have been?
16. Beli contributes all of her fuku to the "Decision That Changed Everything," the moment
she goes out with her friend to dance. And what she got was this, she said, "opening her
arms to encompass the hospital, her children, her cancer, America." How did that one
decision affect the rest of her life? Could she have escaped her choice? Was everything in
her life so awful after that moment?
17. We see Beli as a young woman and as a mother. Is she a good mother? Is she a good
provider? Are Oscar and Lola good kids?
18. Is the culture of the Dominicans we see transplanted to Paterson different than the culture
you grew up in? How?
19. Why does La Inca constantly remind Beli that she is of the Family Cabral, the daughter
of a doctor and a nurse? How does the success or failure of our parents affect their
children?
20. We knew Oscar was going to die because of the title of the book, and the foreshadowing
in the text; did you think he would die the way he did? Or did you think it would be by
his own hand?
21. Oscar Wao is the way schoolmates pronounce Oscar Wilde, a figure they think Oscar
resembled in his Doctor Who Halloween costume. Do our Oscar and Oscar Wilde have
any similarities? Why compare the two?
22. Do Lola and Oscar have a good relationship? Could she have saved him? How?
23. The concepts "men with no faces" and "books with blank pages" appear a number of
times in the narrative. Why are they there? What do they symbolize?
24. Why is Oscar so obsessed with women with whom he cannot hope to have a successful
and meaningful relationship? Does learning that he had one wonderful weekend with a
woman he loved make any difference as to how his life ended?
Related Resources
Fantasy Games, Books and Movies


Dungeons & Dragons - Wizard of the Coast site.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/welcome
Lord of the Rings Wiki - One Wiki to Rule Them All.
http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
[2009]
ISBN: 9781594483295

Comics are referred to numerous times in the book; you can find some information at
websites, such as Marvel Comics. http://www.marvel.com/universe/Fantastic_Four
Spanish Language



Quick translations at Babelfish.com. http://babelfish.yahoo.com/
About.com has put together a beginning Spanish tutorial that you may find helpful.
http://spanish.about.com/od/tipsforlearningspanish/u/start.htm
Your library will have books and audio materials to help you learn Spanish. Check one
out today.
Dominican Republic History and Culture





Resources from the Federal Research Division, accessible online through the Library of
Congress, cover the history of the Dominican Republic through 1982.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/dotoc.html
The CIA World Factbook page on the Dominican Republic.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/dr.html
Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism. http://www.godominicanrepublic.com/
Dominican American National Roundtable (DANR). http://www.danr.org
Dominican American Council of New Jersey.
292 Main St
Hackensack, NJ 07601
(201) 678-9393
Latin American Studies at New Jersey Universities



Rutgers University's Latin American Studies Program (RULAS) is part of the School of
Arts and Sciences. http://www.rulas.rutgers.edu
Princeton University's program in Latin American Studies (PLAS) has a listing of a wide
variety of public programming. http://www.princeton.edu/plas
Richard Stockton College's Latin American & Caribbean Studies (LACS).
http://loki.stockton.edu/~greenel/LACS/lacs_homepage.htm