What is the genre of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao?

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a
post-modern novel and, as such, a conscious blending of many styles and media, including
the following:

• Coming-of-age story
  (Bildungsroman)


• Immigrant
  fiction


• Historical
  fiction


• Quest
  literature


• Comedy


• Tragedy


• Epic


• Science
  fiction: e.g., Isaac Asimov


• Fantasy: e.g., Lord
  of the Rings


• Comic book: e.g.,
  Spider Man


• Intertextual literature:
  e.g., Oscar Wilde


• Picaresque: e.g.,
  Invisible Man


• Pop Culture Homage:
  e.g., Dr. No, Land of the
  Lost


• Dominican History: e.g.,
  Trajillo

As a whole, Postmodernism
rejects Western values and beliefs as only a small part of the human experience and
often rejects such ideas, beliefs, culture, and norms.

So, it can
best be described as a mosaic, or a a collage – a volatile and combustible mash-up – a
mix tape of real, unreal, past, present, comedy, and tragedy, just like the de Leon
family.