The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao cover art

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

By: Junot Diaz
Narrated by: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Karen Olivo
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 2008.

Things have never been easy for Oscar. A ghetto nerd living with his Dominican family in New Jersey, he's sweet but disastrously overweight. He dreams of becoming the next J R R Tolkien and he keeps falling hopelessly in love. Poor Oscar may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fuku - the curse that has haunted his family for generations.

With dazzling energy and insight Diaz immerses us in the tumultuous lives of Oscar; his runaway sister Lola; their beautiful mother Belicia; and in the family's uproarious journey from the Dominican Republic to the US and back.

Rendered with uncommon warmth and humour, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a literary triumph that confirms Junot Diaz as one of the most exciting writers of our time.

©2007 Junot Diaz (P)2008 Recorded Books LLC
Contemporary Fiction Fiction Funny Witty Tear-jerking
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay cover art
The New York Trilogy cover art
The Swimming Pool Library cover art
RISK! cover art
Hot Sur cover art
The Known World cover art
Beach Music cover art
The Breakdown Lane cover art
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter cover art
The Boy Kings of Texas cover art
A Tale of Two Cities cover art
South of Broad cover art
Treason cover art
For Whom the Bell Tolls cover art
Between the Bridge and the River cover art
Master of the Game cover art

What listeners say about The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    240
  • 4 Stars
    118
  • 3 Stars
    55
  • 2 Stars
    20
  • 1 Stars
    9
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    301
  • 4 Stars
    58
  • 3 Stars
    19
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    7
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    213
  • 4 Stars
    98
  • 3 Stars
    52
  • 2 Stars
    17
  • 1 Stars
    11

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Wonderful narration

What does Lin-Manuel Miranda and Karen Olivo bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The seamless switches between English and Spanish really worked during the narration for me, whereas I think it may have been jarring during reading. There was a depth and feeling and genuine enjoyment of the story from both of the narrators.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

First novel I've truly enjoyed for years

Totally transported by the text and the quality of the narration. So happy to have stumbled upon it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

lin manuels naration is everything

I can't recommend it enough. Absolutely beautiful. its sad and funny, the end was just perfect.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant prose

With memorable prose, great characters and a nice story arc, this novel crosses generations, conveying the brutality and futility of living under a dictatorship and the prospects of a social outcast.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

It's easy to see why this book is being hailed as the next modern classic, it's extremely well written with a very human and intriguing story. The different characters are all well developed and have their own distinct voices. The narrator does a brilliant job. Highly recommend, I only wish I spoke better Spanish, I'm going to be spending a lot of time on Google translator for my next listen!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Impeccable Narration

Vivid story, full of wit, insight and anger. It's peppered throughout with delicate hints of foreboding, with cult references and with shades of history that give the narrative a wholly original sense of urgency, relevance and authenticity that's unrivaled. The narrators are such that once listened to, you couldn't imagine anyone else in their stead.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Passionate. Real. Sad.

A brave and vibrant exploration of the roles that fate, culture and the political landscape play in shaping the lives of ordinary people. Amazing main narrator, who brought the story and the characters to life brilliantly. The audiobook has a great pace and I never lost interest.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

book, tribute to the Latin American imagination, culture and history.

This is a wonderful book, tribute to the Latin American imagination, culture and history. A fantastic story about families built upon diaspora and generational impacts of tirany. Full of references to contemporary topics, but also ageless one. If you are interested on insights into Latin American life and ways of thinking this a great book for you!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I can see why this won the Pulitzer.

Absolutely incredible and stunning book! beautifully narrated and engrossing. Not at all surprised it's a Pulitzer winner.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wow.

Awesome, educational, revolting, heartbreaking. I highly recommend this book. It's told in such a great way. So honest and with such cool references. It just blew my mind.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful