History Literature / TheBriefWondrousLifeOfOscarWao

''The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'' (2007) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Junot Díaz. The story revolves around the character Oscar de León, a [[JustForFun/OneOfUs consummate scifi and fantasy geek]] with horrendous luck with women who wants to be the Dominican Creator/JRRTolkien. The story is told through his former roommate at Rutgers, Yunior, who comes off as a [[JerkAss bit dickish]] when he is first introduced into the story, but [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold grows into a better person]] by the time he is writing the novel. Yunior tells the story of Oscar's life by tracing Oscar's story through his sister Lola, his mother Hypatá Belicia Cabral (or Beli for short), and his grandfather Abelard Cabral's own tragic tales.

* QuestForSex
* RatedMForManly: Both Oscar and Yunior struggle with living up to the Dominican standards of masculinity.

* CulturalRebel: Oscar fit the profile to a T; Lola too, to a lesser degree.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The curse on the family, which Yunior calls fukú;. On the one hand, the previous generation suffered ''really'' bad luck under Trujillo, which is what led to Beli being scarred as a child. One could argue, however, that the cause is more rooted in genetic mental illness and generational trauma; Oscar's bad mental health could have been inherited from his mother, and neither of them had the resources in their respective time periods to get the support they needed.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The curse on the family, which Yunior calls fuká. On the one hand, the previous generation suffered ''really'' bad luck under Trujillo, which is what led to Beli being scarred as a child. One could argue, however, that the cause is more rooted in genetic mental illness and generational trauma; Oscar's bad mental health could have been inherited from his mother, and neither of them had the resources in their respective time periods to get the support they needed.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The curse on the family, which Yunior calls fuk&uacute. On the one hand, the previous generation suffered ''really'' bad luck under Trujillo, which is what led to Beli being scarred as a child. One could argue, however, that the cause is more rooted in genetic mental illness and generational trauma; Oscar's bad mental health could have been inherited from his mother, and neither of them had the resources in their respective time periods to get the support they needed.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The curse on the family, which Yunior calls fuk&aacute. On the one hand, the previous generation suffered ''really'' bad luck under Trujillo, which is what led to Beli being scarred as a child. One could argue, however, that the cause is more rooted in genetic mental illness and generational trauma; Oscar's bad mental health could have been inherited from his mother, and neither of them had the resources in their respective time periods to get the support they needed.

* FootnoteFever - Quite unusual for a work of fiction.

* GeekReferencePool: Listing all of the references that Yunior includes to various aspects of GeekCulture would take a page unto itself. But that doesn't mean we are not going to try -

** Beli after her boyfriend impregnates her thinks that she can go on as she does when a few Mirabel Sisters show up and tell her she has to abort the baby and has to stay away from him. She doesn't get the memo and refuses to get an abortion. This means that several police thugs beat her to death after luring her out of her house, and cause her to miscarry. She's lucky to be alive.

* CulturalRebel : Oscar fit the profile to a T; Lola too, to a lesser degree.

* EvilOverlord - Trujillo certainly fits the bill. He is directly compared to Darkseid and Sauron.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin - The word [[spoiler:"Brief"]] being in the title [[spoiler:[[OhAndXDies isn't for show]]]].

* GeekPhysiques - Oscar weighs over 300 pounds for most of his life.
* GeekReferencePool - Listing all of the references that Yunior includes to various aspects of GeekCulture would take a page unto itself. But that doesn't mean we are not going to try -

* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Ybon.

* MagicRealism

* NarratorAllAlong: Yunior.

* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan - Oscar and Yunior definitely fall into these categories.
* SheIsAllGrownUp - Jacquelyn and Beli blossom almost overnight from skinny girls into stunningly beautiful and well-endowed teenagers, although it doesn't do them much good in the long run. ''Especially'' for Jacquelyn and her poor doomed family in the Age of [[KavorkaMan Trujillo]].

* YouCantGoHomeAgain - Averted, Beli and her family go back to Santo Domingo every year for vacation.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Oscar is no longer a virgin and found someone who he could get intimate with, but in doing so he got himself killed. Beli also died from breast cancer. Lola and Yunior marry other people, and Oscar's manuscript on his family's history is lost, possibly forever. But Oscar found love! Lola has also married and had a daughter, and it's implied she has broken the cycle of abuse that Beli started. Yunior, [[spoiler:to atone for letting Oscar die on his watch]], is writing a book to counter the fuk&aacute and give the future generations a fighting chance.

* NerdsAreVirgins: UpToEleven.

* DeathByDespair: Beli has NoSympathy towards Oscar trying to kill himself [[spoiler:twice]]. This means that even with Lola and Yunior watching out for Oscar, [[spoiler:he still decides that it's better to die after finding love with Ybon then to live and attempt to get treatment for his depression.]]

** ''VideoGame/StreetFighter''

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Oscar is no longer a virgin and found someone who he could get intimate with, but in doing so he got himself killed. Beli also died from breast cancer. Lola and Yunior marry other people, and Oscar's manuscript on his family's history is lost, possibly forever. But Oscar found love! Lola has also married and had a daughter, and it's implied she has broken the cycle of abuse that Beli started. Yunior, [[poiler:to atone for letting Oscar die on his watch]], is writing a book to counter the fuk&aacute and give the future generations a fighting chance.

* AbusiveParents: Beli is arguably abusive to Lola at times, even telling her [[spoiler:to keep her mouth shut about a neighbor molesting her.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Oscar is no longer a virgin and found someone who he could get intimate with, but in doing so he got himself killed. Beli a died from breast cancer. Lola and Yunior marry other people, and Oscar's manuscript on his family's history is lost, possibly forever. But Oscar found love! Lola has also married and had a daughter, and it's implied she has broken the cycle of abuse that Beli started.]]

* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Oscar, so very much. We see in a flashback that he inherited this trait from his mother Beli, who nearly got killed because of it, with [[spoiler:Oscar being even less lucky.]]

** Beli after her boyfriend impregnates her thinks that she can go on as she does when a few Mirabel Sisters show up and tell her she has to abort the baby, and has to stay away from him. She doesn't get the memo and refuses to get an abortion. This means that several police thugs beat her to death after luring her out of her house, and cause her to miscarry. She's also lucky to be alive.

** When Beli lies semiconscious in the sugarcane field, she has a vision of a creature telling her she has to live so that she will have her two children. Beli decides to listen, and to reluctantly leave her home.

* RealityEnsues: Beli has NoSympathy towards Oscar trying to kill himself [[spoiler:twice]]. This means that even with Lola and Yunior watching out for Oscar, [[spoiler:he still decides that it's better to die after finding love with Ybon then to live and attempt to get treatment for his depression.]]

* MostWritersAreWriters: Both Yunior and Oscar are aspiring writers; the later of pulpy SF, and the former of hyper-violent {{Noir}}.

* LonelyFuneral: Oscar's funeral at the end of the novel is attended only by Yunior, Lola, Beli and La Inca.

* FunnyAfro - Oscar eventually gets rid of it.

''The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'' (2007) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Junot Díaz. The story revolves around the character Oscar de León, a [[JustForFun/OneOfUs consummate scifi and fantasy geek]] with horrendous luck with women who wants to be the Dominican Creator/JRRTolkien. The story is told through his former roommate at Rutgers, Yunior, who comes off as a [[JerkAss bit dickish]] when he is first introduced into the story, but [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold grows into a better person]] by the time he is writing the novel. Yunior tells the story of Oscar's life (and [[OhAndXDies death]]) by tracing Oscar's story through his sister Lola, his mother Hypatá Belicia Cabral (or Beli for short), and his grandfather Abelard Cabral's own tragic tales.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin - The word "Brief" being in the title [[OhAndXDies isn't for show]].

* AbusiveParents: Beli despises both of her children, even telling [[spoiler:Lola to keep her mouth shut about a neighbor molesting her.]]

Between all of the geek references, untranslated Spanish, slang, and footnotes, you might get lost in the text and believe that Díaz [[ViewersAreGeniuses assumes too much]] from the reader, or that he is aiming to disorient the reader. However, understanding all of his references [[GeniusBonus doesn't add much to understanding the text]].

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin - The word "Brief" being in the title isn't for show.

''The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'' (2007) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Junot Díaz. The story revolves around the character Oscar de León, a [[OneOfUs consummate scifi and fantasy geek]] with horrendous luck with women who wants to be the Dominican Creator/JRRTolkien. The story is told through his former roommate at Rutgers, Yunior, who comes off as a [[JerkAss bit dickish]] when he is first introduced into the story, but [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold grows into a better person]] by the time he is writing the novel. Yunior tells the story of Oscar's life (and [[OhAndXDies death]]) by tracing Oscar's story through his sister Lola, his mother Hypatá Belicia Cabral (or Beli for short), and his grandfather Abelard Cabral's own tragic tales.

** ''LiveActionTV/DoctorWho''

* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Oscar, so very much. We see in a flashback that he inherited this trait from his mother Beli, who nearly got killed because of it. [[spoiler:Oscar is even less lucky.]]