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Bloomberg.com reported on April 2nd that the shortlist for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award includes Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, winner of a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Critics' Circle award. Find this book in our catalog. The book was selected as one of eight finalists.

Billed as the richest award for a work of fiction in English and first awarded in 1996, the IMPAC award is meant to promote excellence in world literature. The contest is managed by Dublin City Libraries and draws on nominations from librarians around the globe. This year’s 146 nominations came from 157 public library systems in 117 cities worldwide, the organizers said in an e-mailed news release. Click here for details.



This is what the summary in our catalog says about The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: "This is the long-awaited first novel from one of the most original and memorable writers working today. Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the curse that has haunted the Oscar's family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still waiting for his first kiss, is just its most recent victim. Diaz immerses us in the tumultuous life of Oscar and the history of the family at large, rendering with genuine warmth and dazzling energy, humor, and insight the Dominican-American experience, and, ultimately, the endless human capacity to persevere in the face of heartbreak and loss. A true literary triumph, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao confirms Junot Diaz as one of the best and most exciting voices of our time."

Labels: Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Caribbean Americans - fiction, Dominican Republic - fiction, IMPAC Award, Junot Diaz