The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

An unusual book about the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic and the consequential migration, of all those who could, to America. The narrator, Oscar, is an overweight geeky Dominican who is struggling to keep up with the social demands of his new life in America. I really enjoyed the historical context of this novel and it was fascinating to learn about Trujillo's regime.  The writing is very good and Oscar is a realistic character who is easy to like. I can really appreciate the wonderful talent behind this book, and I am glad I read it but personally I cannot say I enjoyed the book.  There was something in the frequent references to comic books, fantasy games and science fiction which made this book difficult to engage with and prevented me becoming really gripped by it.  If you're into that stuff though, definitely read this book.