The Wonders of Wao

FINALLY. I could actually read a book. One that wasn't an ESL textbook. One that wasn't a quickie, like one of those 100-pager junk-food-for-your-brain deals. A real live novel.
"The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Díaz was effusively recommended to me by a former English tutoring colleague, about, oh ... a year ago. Scooped it up at Costco during the summer, and it had been collecting dust until last week.

As a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner (2008), I had big expectations for this tale. The narrative captured me from the start, and the entwined factual footnotes provided thoroughly detailed historical background about the Dominican Republic, which is not to be overlooked as a worthy character unto itself.

The fully fleshed-out characters will prove more and more wondrous as the story moves along; be prepared for a wild ride of redemption. The novel does preclude knowledge on two points, though, without which the story may prove less satisfying: poquito español, and some acquaintance with all things sci-fi / fantasy / anime.