This book should of almost been called, "the Brief Wondrous Lineage of Oscar Wao", since much of the book is filled not just with his story, but also his Mother's, Sisters, and Grandfather. An obscenely overweight Dominican sci-fi geek growing up in New Jersey Wao's story is one of a family cursed by what is known as the fuka. How this manifests itself in the life of of present day hero though, is revealed through that family's past; A past ripe with violence, will, and most importantly, love. The book is strewn with fantasy sci-fi references and passages in Spanish without the aid of translation, so there were snippets that were lost to me. Footnotes also are scattered throughout the book that are used as a history lesson mostly to educate the reader about the brutal thirty year reign of dictator Rafael Trujillo, and the ripple effect on Oscar's family. It's powerful writing, that's both laugh out loud funny at times,and also shocking in it's brutality. My one regret is that I don't speak Spanish.