Now Reading: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

It isn’t fantasy, it isn’t science fiction, but the novel’s eponymous protagonist is a Tolkien-reading, anime-watching, card-carrying geek. He’s also a writer, and aspires to become the Dominican Tolkien. While the novel ostensibly treats themes of political repression and the struggles of immigration, through the young hero’s eyes it also raises questions of storytelling and the construction of reality.

I therefore assert that The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao falls into a category I’d like to call metafantasy. This is fantasy at one remove. While all the superficial trappings of fantasy are missing, the main character explores many of the underlying themes that distinguish the fantasy genre.

Of course, the possible presence of a family curse, the deadly fuku, also steers the book into speculative fiction.

So far, I’m really enjoying the novel. I may or may not post a review of it here, but at the very least I’d like to further explore the concept of metafantasy which I’ve introduced here.