THE Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (《奥斯卡·瓦奥短暂而奇妙的一生》) is Junot Díaz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of 2007. It’s the story or story-set of several generations of a Dominican and later Dominican-American family, the de Leons. The de Leons are, or may be, cursed, along with thousands of other Dominicans. They are certainly victims, of the notorious despot Rafaello Trujillo, who ruled or misruled Dominica in the middle decades of the 20th century. The book is a tale of murder, torture, bad luck, unhappiness, but also great resilience.