What is so great about this book? First of all, the characters: a heavy-set, hopeless romantic, computer geek, word nerd, and aspiring writer Hu&aacute;scar de Le&oacute;n; his lovely, loving sister Lola; their orphaned, abused, hard-working, (abusive) mother Belicia; and, surprisingly, the (story of the) siblings' maternal grandparents, Dr. Abelard Luis Cabral and his wife, a nurse, Socorro; as well as Yunior, the sometimes narrator sometimes love of Lola, who is Oscar's friend and roommate (not necessarily in that order. Second, the subjects: infatuation (Oscar's almost constant state of mind), love, sex, abuse, torture and murder. If that doesn't sound thrilling enough, the most wondrous thing about it is Diaz' crazy, fast-paced, in-your-face (p 19) "You didn't know we were occupied twice in the twentieth century? Don't worry, when you have kids they won't know the U.S. occupied Iraq either," writing style (filled with political and historical footnotes about The Dominican Republic and Trujillo, referred to as Mr. F[word]face), which includes more than a smattering of Spanish words, phrases and slang and enough overt, graphic descriptions of sexual situations and profanity to make the average reader squirm. The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is unusual in tone (sort of like, just your average Dominican Republic-born street-wise "n" word (used frequently in the book) letting the reader in on how it REALLY is) and style and an absolutely excellent read. Also good: Graceland by Chris Abani, Smila's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.