The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Vibrant. Truly. In a weird way it reminds me of Allende, I think because of Diaz's ability to combine a sweeping & heartbreaking cultural history with the minutia of a heartbreaking personal history–except there's very little cursing in Allende. And no footnotes. Both of which I loved. The narrator, Yunior, has as strong a voice as I've read recently, possibly ever, and the book as a whole is thoroughly, completely modern. Funny, tragic, and beautiful. A must read, even though I'm sure everyone else was ahead of me on getting to this one.