The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz has provided me with the much needed kick in the rear to recognize that my dorky comic book reviews, while enjoyable to write, may be less than I am capable of as a writer.  Any subject can make for great writing, but when the subject is great writing, like Diaz's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, I believe I will be pushed to write better and more elucidating prose.  Amazing that the very character of Oscar Wao struggles with his own fanboy identity; as a collector of all things science fiction and fantasy, I understood Oscar from page one.  No luck with the ladies, overweight, and possessor of a secret knowledge that serves as a type of literary gang sign all of us nerds recognize, I "got" Oscar like I've understood few other characters in contemporary literature.  So to pay my respects, for his life was too brief, I change streams here, and will now review every book I read for the next year.

Junot Diaz's first novel took him ten years to write, and it seems like a long time for a book that moves along so swiftly.  "Oscar Wao" follows the life of three generations of the Cabral family as they deal with the fuku curse they bear as natives of the Dominican Republic.  The curse on Oscar is multi faceted but revolves around his difficulties getting women, after a few childish trysts he has no adult experience with love until he is in his late twenties.  His situation is the least of the problems faced by the family Cabral, as his mother was abused by her "family" as a child, and chased out of the country and into Washington Heights by the evil of a possessive lover who already had a wife.  Beli Cabral will not let this stand and risks her life to be his only one; this puts her life in great danger.  Then there are the parents Beli never new, Abelard and Socorro Cabral, a doctor and a nurse with firm roots in the Dominican Republic, who are tortured and imprisoned for a single slight that Abelard "might" have said against Trujillo, the worst US supported dictator of a second world country perhaps in history.

These wondrous lives were mixed and mingled like the liquids in a fine cocktail, leaving one with a heady experience where one ingredient's influence is impossible to seperate from the whole.  While Oscar and his lonely life as a nerd spoke volumes to my comic book heart, the tales of what his parents faced due to their nation of origin were tragic and sad.

Always Diaz is moving between these two extremes.  First you feel familiar and safe in a narrative about going to the mall in Washington Heights, then he pulls the floor out from under you and drops a two page footnote about the nature of Trujillo's sexual and military dominance of his people.  To simply say a phrase against him was to earn a royal beat-down, and this ultra-violence made New York city seem idyllic and peaceful by comparison.

Much of the book is about sexual tension and sexual awakenings.  Trujillo had sex with eery woman he chose, and this contrasted with Oscars inability to get laid in a strange way; sexual roles are reversed and while we root for under-performing Oscar, we hate Trujillo for taking away so much from so many woman in the DR. This goes against the normal sexual politics that promote the health of vibrant sexuality and made me ask why doesn't Oscar chill, he has nothing to be ashamed of.

I will not explain why or how Oscar's life was cut short, but I will say it was the fuku curse revolving around his undeveloped sexuality, but Oscar was so much more than this.  He authored dozens of science fiction novels that no one wanted to publish.  He read the Lord of the Rings dozens of times over.  Oscar loved role playing games and Japanese anime, and like so many in the subculture of the aging dork, he was self conscious and self hating, always wanting to be more of a man, or at least someone else's image of what a man should be.

 I've decided I owe it to the memory of Oscar Cabral, and the incredible inspiration Diaz provides, to work with Amnesty International and write letters seeking the release of political prisoners around the world.  This reaction is knee jerk, but it is appropriate and it is something I have been meaning to get back into for a long time.  I also feel inspired to write the reviews of every book I read in an attempt to escape from my own fanboy obsessions while simultaneously advocating that there's nothing wrong with reading some cheesy ass books, as long as you pepper the mix with some novels as fine as "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao."  I won't tell you why the title says Wao, but it's a fanboy reference, just one more reminder of why I identify with this character.  When I die people may think Adam Who? A part of me can be found in this novel.