Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and other leading literary awards worldwide in 2008 and hailed by renowned publications as one of the best books of the year, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is the highly anticipated debut novel by Junot Díaz, one of the most original and memorable writers working today. More than ten years after the publication of his first book—the short story collection Drowned, considered a landmark in contemporary literature and released in Brazil by Record—the novel, an absolute success with both audiences and critics in the United States, spending more than 20 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, now arrives in Brazil. Life has never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously obese nerd of Dominican descent who lives with his mother and sister in a New Jersey ghetto. Humiliated by his peers and isolated from the world, he spends his hours in the company of science fiction and fantasy books and films, dreaming of becoming the Latin American J.R.R. Tolkien and, above all, of finding true love. However, he may never achieve his dreams, due to a fukú—an ancient curse that has plagued Oscar's family for generations, condemning his relatives to imprisonment, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-fated passions. Oscar, who still yearns for his first kiss, is its most recent victim—until the fateful summer he decides to make his last. With magnificent insight and energy, Junot Díaz introduces us to the captivating and tumultuous lives of our hero, Oscar, his sister Lola, and their beautiful and aloof mother, Belicia, describing the family's epic journey from Santo Domingo to New Jersey and their return to their homeland. At the same time, he portrays the woes of the Dominican dictatorship and Oscar's family's struggle for survival during cruel historical moments. Written with quirky humor and tenderness, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao offers a stunning insight into contemporary American life and the endless human capacity to persevere—and risk everything—for love. A literary triumph that confirms Junot Díaz as one of the finest and most exciting voices of our time.
Junot Díaz nasceu em Santo Domingo, na República Dominicana. Foi agraciado com diversas homenagens, entre elas o Eugene McDermott Award. Seu primeiro livro, a coletânea de contos Afogado, considerado um marco da literatura contemporânea, tornou-se best-seller e ganhou o prêmio PEN/Malamud. Os contos foram reproduzidos em inúmeras publicações, como New Yorker, African Voices, Best American Short Stories e The O’Henry Prize Stories 2009. Muito aguardado pela crítica e pelos leitores, A fantástica vida breve de Oscar Wao foi considerado um dos melhores livros de 2008 e ganhou prêmios literários de grande destaque mundial – o Pulitzer de ficção de 2008, o John Sargent de 2007, o National Book Critics Circle e o Dayton Literary Pease. Junot mora em Nova York e leciona escrita criativa no MIT.
