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 became the first Hispanic author to win the Pulitzer for Fiction. The book is a lush, rhythmic tribute to the era of the Mambo.