The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Díaz

Simultaneously funny and heartbreaking, sexy and disturbing, utterly compelling and unforgettable, this much anticipated 2007 novel by writer Junot Díaz has received much (deserved) acclaim. As the year closes, it will be near the top of most “best books of the year” lists.
The novel centers around the survivors of a Domincan family in urban New Jersey, living with [...]

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Books – Amulet by Roberto Bolaño

Amulet by Roberto Bolaño(translated to English by Chris Andrews) is the Chilean writer’s “other” novel to be published in the United States in the spring of 2007.  The Savage Detectives has been a lead review in every publication that still covers books in April and May.
Unlike that book’s epic size and scale,  Amulet is a short, intimate novella expanding on the story of [...]

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Books – Leaving Tabasco by Carmen Boullosa

1999’s Leaving Tabasco by Mexican writer Carmen Boullosa is a humorous 1960s coming of age story using magic realism with leftist and feminist politics. In detailed and poetic descriptions Boullosa depicts a fully realized traditional household and village, including the everyday cruelties against the poor, indigenous, and women of rural Southern Mexico. Nor does she sugarcoat the conflicts and [...]

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