I just learned that Miramax and producer Scott Rudin have already acquired the movie rights to The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz's acclaimed first novel. In 1996, Diaz's first short story collection, Drown, made him an instant literary celebrity, and after eleven years of intense pressure, his first novel has proved to be a runaway success.

As Sycamore Book Reviewer Paul Rutz writes, the novel follows the exploits of "Oscar de León , the obese and verbose son of Dominican immigrants living in New Jersey. A nerd of the highest order, he seems destined never to get laid, an unusual problem for a Dominican (we’re told). But, as fans of Díaz’s short fiction will anticipate, Oscar’s problems seem to be part of a larger, more ancient set of issues. He and his family may or may not be under fukú—a curse supposedly brought to the Caribbean in 1492 and the reason why Dominicans still do not speak the name Cristóbal Colón. This book, one of its narrators tells us, is a “counterspell” of sorts to end an impressive trend of bad breaks for the de León family. Bouncing between New Jersey, the Dominican Republic, and the last several decades, we follow Oscar’s exploits, grabbing on to several subplots and historical asides along a largely rewarding journey."