Alfaguara Publishes

Alfaguara will publish, exclusively for the Dominican Republic , Junot Díaz’s award-winning novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” which will be on bookshelves at the end of August.

(2007) is Diaz’s first novel. It has become a bestseller and has been translated into 24 languages.

This 352-page edition of the Pulitzer prize-winning novel has been carefully translated by Cuban-American writer Achy Obejas in order to incorporate the Dominican tone and flavor of the written word and cultural references. The translation and revisions were done in conjunction with the author. The original book cover was created from a concept developed by the Epigrey advertising agency and illustrated by JA Martí (Penché). 

Referring to the novel’s protagonist Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz said: “He is the nerd in every Latin Family, the nerdo of the family that never appears in photographs and if he does, he’s always in the back of the picture, embarrassed, hidden. He’s one of the big silent types in the narrative about Dominican masculinity and since this book is about silences in the Dominican narrative, I figured that Oscar would be the perfect hero.” 

Sinopsis:

The ancient Dominican curse of the Fuku that appears in generation after generation has claimed a new victim: Oscar, a “DominicanYorker” who dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien. His tormented days are full of science fiction, videogames, comics and the teasing and rejection brought on by being excessively overweight. He desperately looks for love (and loses his virginity like a typical macho Dominican) but he is such a freak that no girl will pay him any mind.

This tragic family saga begins with the eminent Dr. Abelard Cabral, Oscar’s grandfather who is constantly being harassed by the Trujillo dictatorship; one such instance marks the infancy and destiny of his third and last daughter, Belicia, the mother of the protagonist. Calamity and misfortune seem to multiply among the members of the family although they are valiant and persevere in the struggle to stay afloat.

It is a an intense novel, funny, original, moving in which Junot Diaz creates the fictional universe of DominicanYork

It is a an intense novel, funny, original, moving in which Junot Diaz creates the fictional universe of DominicanYork, with its heroes and villains, stigmas and invisible zones, magic rings and super powers, following the tradition of the famous Marvel Universe but yet very apathetic. The story is full of juicy footnotes by the narrator, Yunior – Oscar’s only friend – about Dominican history of the 20th century and its masculinity.

Junot Díaz was born in Santo Domingo in 1968 and, with his family, left the DR at the age of seven for the United States . He studied at Rutgers University then earned a PhD at Cornell. His stories have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies such as the New Yorker, The Paris Review, Time Out, African Voices and Best American Fiction. He was included in the New Yorker’s 1999 publication of the “20 Writers of the 21st Century.” He received the Pushcart Prize XXII for his story “Winter” which was selected by the Pushcart Book of Short Stories. In 2007, he was chosen among “39 writers under 39,” which was made up of 39 of the most important Latin American writers of that time. His first published story, “Drown” was part of a collection of short stories in 1996 and was know in Spanish as “Negocios”. In addition, Mr. Diaz teachers creative writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” (2007) is Diaz’s first novel. It has become a bestseller and has been translated into 24 languages. Miramax Studios have bought the movie rights. Since its first appearance, the novel has received important awards such as the John Sargeant Sr. Prize for a first novel, the National Book Critics Circle Award for best novel and the Pulitzer Prize for a novel 2008.