Oscar Wao at the Front Register of B&N Makes Happy Time

Nothing really important to impart, just bored on a Saturday. I swung by Barnes and Noble today because I had to pick up some ass-chapping Penguin’s Guide to Literary terms. While I was there, I tried to find the book Infoquake because it had been recommended to me. Not finding it, I seethed and went to buy my shit. I find B&N generally exasperating, because of the complete lack of want when it comes to shitty, soccer mom drivel, but the inability to find anything random or esoteric.

But as I got to the counter, I noticed they had the paperback edition of Oscar Wao up to be peddled, and I had to smile a little bit. I don’t understand how something as dense and esoteric as Oscar Wao has garnered so much mainstream attention, but it makes me grin. It’s equal-parts fictional nerd biography, centering on references to the Danger Room and Watchmen, and a historical account of the last century or so of the Dominican Republic. When I saw a girl reading Wao on the train, I was all, oh shit!

As a nerd, who relates to Oscar Wao’s tale more than should be healthy – obesity, being a virgin until 25, self-deprecation and suicide attempts, it makes me glow inside to see it up there. If you haven’t checked out Oscar Wao, and you’re a fan of nerdculture, historical fiction, or more important, really fucking gorgeous prose, check it out.