Normally, I'm a sucker for elegant, poetic prose; in most books I've loved, the plot has been a secondary concern. However, the first thing I did after turning the final page of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was to copy my favorite sections into a notebook and slide the title onto the shelf I reserve for my favorite books. I couldn't put this novel down. On the cover of my paperback edition, Michiko Kakutani called Diaz's writing style "adrenaline-powered prose," and I couldn't erase her unbelievably apt description from my head. The narration almost harries the reader, but never failed to maintain my complete absorption; I came to intimately know and envision every character in my mind's eye; I developed a new interest in the history of the Dominican Republic. I'd recommend, highly, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao to anyone, from a fiction-avoider to a college English professor.
I'll also say here that if you ever run across an opportunity to hear Diaz read or speak, take advantage of it. He read from Oscar Wao in Gannett Auditorium at Skidmore College and, despite his Pulitzer, the turnout was disappointing. He was as hilarious and irreverent as the narrator he created in Yunior, and made it a really good time.
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