His first book, 1996’s awesome story collection Drown, was
written in a hybrid of English and Spanish, set in the Dominican
Republic and New Jersey, and began with two guys kicking the shit out
of a boy whose face had been eaten off by a pig. Now, at last,
years late, Díaz’s second book has been published. Michiko
Kakutani calls The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao “so original
it can only be described as Mario Vargas Llosa meets Star
Trek meets David Foster Wallace meets Kanye West.”
(Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. 7:30 pm,
free.)

Christopher Frizzelle was The Stranger's print editor, and first joined the staff in 2003. He was the editor-in-chief from 2007 to 2016, and edited the story by Eli Sanders that won a 2012 Pulitzer...