Pulitzer Prize Fiction Winner
The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love
by Oscar Hijuelos
Summary
Two Cuban brothers leave Havana for New York in 1949 and form a Latin dance band that briefly tastes fame, including a televised cameo on a popular American sitcom, before time and disappointment catch up with them. Hijuelos writes a sensual, music-saturated portrait of immigrant ambition, brotherhood, and the postwar Latin music scene of Manhattan and the outer boroughs. The novel helped open mainstream American literature to Latino voices and themes.
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Historical Context & Significance
Hijuelos was the first Hispanic author to win the Pulitzer for Fiction; the book is a lush, rhythmic tribute to the era of the Mambo.