by Junot Díaz
First published 2007
Oscar lives in New Jersey with his traditional mother and defiant sister. He weighs too much, loves science fiction, and has never been kissed. Oscar wants two things: to write fantasy novels like Tolkien and to find someone who will love him back. But Oscar's family carries the Fukú, a curse that brings imprisonment, torture, accidents, and doomed relationships across generations. Oscar becomes the latest victim of this inherited misfortune. His romantic hopes crash repeatedly while he struggles with his weight and his outsider status as a Dominican nerd in America. Díaz tells Oscar's story alongside his family's broader history, showing how the curse has shaped their lives across decades. The novel captures the complexity of growing up Dominican-American, caught between old world expectations and new world dreams. Through Oscar's failures and small victories, Díaz reveals how people endure heartbreak and keep hoping despite repeated disappointments.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, coming-of-age, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, outsider-protagonist
Setting: New Jersey
Period: 21st-century
335 pages · Hardcover · Riverhead Books
Content warnings: depression, mental-illness