I really, really disliked this book. At every twist and turn the story turns more and more depressing and the main character is very unlikeable. I bought it because it was an award winner but I was extremely disappointed.

I enjoyed this story of Oscar de Leon, an American born boy of Dominican heritage. Oscar is one of those people who just don't fit in. Aside from be physically large, his interests tend toward the fantasy realm (which is totally okay with me), which doesn't seem to be the norm in New Jersey where he lives. His mother escaped from the Dominican Republic and from it's brutal dictator Rafael Trujillo.

Ultimately it is a family trip that leads to a downward spiral that Oscar is unable to save himself from.

I listened to the audio book as read by Jonathan Davis. His voice and pronunciation of the Spanish words pulled me into the story. This could not overcome the confusion when the story jumped around in time. One moment listening to details of Oscar's life in New Jersey and then across the ocean to the Dominican Republic and the terrors heaped on his mother and grandparents. I found this very hard to follow. It is almost as though there were two books being read in alternate chapters. I wanted to hear more about Oscar and less about Dominican history.

I kept listening and it became clearer to me that the present for Oscar could not be understood without knowing the history not only of his family, but of their country. I think that I might have followed the history better if I'd seen it in print and been able to re-read those portions.

On the whole, I did enjoy this book and I found the characters to be truly believable even as I shook my head and muttered "why did she do that", "oh why didn't he just walk away".

Truly a great book. It was wonderful to read a book set in NJ as I am originally from there. The humor and the passion in the work make it completely deserving of the praise heaped on it. Do believe the hype; Oscar, Lola, Beli, La Inca and Yunior make this a fabulous journey with wonderful characters well worth it.

What an interesting book this one was.
A woman by the name of Rebecca lent it to me this past week as I read it while sitting around the pool at my resort in Puerto Plata.

How appropriate to read this book while I was spending some time in the Dominican. This book was filled with some extremely interesting facts about the history of the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile a very well written story accompanied it.

It was very easy to see why Junot Diaz won award for this incredible novel.