I had heard about The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Oscar is a stereotypical nerd. He’s overweight, shy, well read (at least in comics and science fiction), watches movies (anime and science fiction) and he loves girls (but has no clue how to talk to them). Oscar is our main character and the book revolves around him. But it jumps in time from when Oscar is little to when he’s in his mid 20s and also back to the past of his mother and grandparents. The book is narrated by Oscar, his sister, his mother, a friend of the family, his grandfather and an aunt. It involves the Dominican Republic politics and history (especially the reign of Rafael Trujillo, also known as El Jefe). The book traces the curse that is in Oscar’s family through the generations.
Oscar is the main focus though and the story circles around and around his personal issues. It goes back in time to show his family and their troubles and how he ended up as a nerd Dominican in New York. Then his family goes back to the Dominican and Oscar (who falls in love every two pages and always fails) falls in love again. This time with the wrong person, but he finally decides that he needs to stand up for something. The ending is heartbreaking and wonderful and uplifting at the same time.
Junot Diaz is mainly known for his short fiction and this is his first (and so far only) novel. It won the numerous awards including the Pulitzer Prize. All the awards are well deserved. The closest thing that I can compare it to is Jonathan Lethem’s 
