Details Books During The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Mambo Kings #1)
| Original Title: | The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love |
| ISBN: | 0140143912 (ISBN13: 9780140143911) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Mambo Kings #1 |
| Setting: | New York City, New York(United States) Manhattan, New York City, New York(United States) |
| Literary Awards: | Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1990), National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for Fiction (1989), National Book Award Finalist for Fiction (1989) |
Oscar Hijuelos
Paperback | Pages: 407 pages Rating: 3.69 | 11410 Users | 493 Reviews
Itemize Out Of Books The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Mambo Kings #1)
| Title | : | The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Mambo Kings #1) |
| Author | : | Oscar Hijuelos |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 407 pages |
| Published | : | 1990 by Penguin Group (first published 1989) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Music |
Relation In Favor Of Books The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Mambo Kings #1)
As the weather heats up it is easy to envision oneself on a beach with a rum and Coke in hand. The preferred beverage in Cuba before Castro's take over, rum invokes images of Havana as a city teeming with night life and rivaling Miami as the gateway to Latin America. It is with this sensuous imagery at hand that I selected Oscar Hijuelos' Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love as the next book in my ongoing Pulitzer challenge. The first Hispanic to win the award, Hijuelos' steamy book transports its readers back to a classy time when Mambo and its musicians were indeed Kings. Brothers Cesar and Nestor Castillo hailed from the Oriente province of Cuba. From the simple peasant class, neither had much of a future, especially with a demanding father who expected them to stay on the farm. One day Cesar heard a local band leader practicing, demanded lessons, and the rest is history. Soon, Cesar played his way out of Oriente to Santiago, Havana, and eventually New York. Regarded as a top band leader alongside Nestor, a gifted trumpet player, the brothers founded the Mambo Kings band and catapulted to the top of the Latin music circuit in New York during the late 1940s. Leaving Cuba even before the revolution was not without its share of anguish. Cesar epitomized Hispanic machismo culture and bedded one woman after another. He tried his hand at marriage but grew restless, and his wife divorced him, forcing him to leave his daughter Mariela behind on the island. Nestor did not share his brother's cockiness. A introvert and brooding man, he fell for a pretty girl named Maria and engaged in a long affair with her, only to see her marry another man. Nestor never got over this heartbreak, even after marrying his wife Dolores in New York and having two children, Eugenio and Leticia. This torment the brothers felt lead them to write their one hit song-- Dulce Maria de mi Alma [Beautiful Maria of my Soul] that nearly lead them to stardom. A chance meeting with Cuban star Desi Arnaz lead the brothers to perform Dulce Maria de mi Alma on the I Love Lucy Show. At the time, especially as Castro continued to gain power in Cuba, all Cubans living in the United States stuck close together, even Arnaz who had made it big as a Hollywood star. After this performance, Cesar dwelt on this episode for the rest of his life, reminiscing on his one shining moment and reminding all of his friends and acquaintances that he is the famous Mambo Kings who once performed with Desi Arnaz. Nestor tragically passed away a few years later leaving behind a young family, but Cesar continued to look fondly at this experience on television for better or worse. Hijuelos writes this poignant tale as a two sided record complete with coda. He tells Cesar's story in flashback as both Cesar and his nephew Eugenio look back at a time when Cesar was the Mambo King of New York. In addition to leading a band, Cesar worked a full time day job to support himself and his sister-in-law and her family as well as his friends and musicians and a myriad of Cubans just off the boat. Cesar also oozed machismo until his dying day, bedding one woman after another in true Latin lover form. The prose dripped of sensuous love mixed with pain, of both love lost and the schism of Cubans in the United States and the island following the revolution. As I read this tale of lust and heartbreak, I kept singing Cuban hits such as Guantamera in my mind, setting Cesar Castillo's conflicted life to music. The Mambo King will be long remembered by me as I felt a twinge of sympathy for this man who could not relate to women except in bed while leading a conflicted life. With luscious writing that is could also be construed as an homage to his native Cuba, Hijuelos has merited the Pulitzer for his poignant tale. A story of immigrants who brushed with fame, were scorned by love, and maintained their machismo Cuban culture throughout their lives, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love is a scintillating tale. I had previously read Hijuelos' The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien and as before was enamored by his writing. A worthy torch bearer as being the first Hispanic authored book to earn the Pulitzer, Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love is a jewel of a book for me at 4.5 sparkling stars.Rating Out Of Books The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Mambo Kings #1)
Ratings: 3.69 From 11410 Users | 493 ReviewsColumn Out Of Books The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Mambo Kings #1)
Like clockwork, highly viscous, graphic coitus every 3-5 pages. Give that book The Pulitzer Prize!This Pulitzer winning story of Cesar, the Mambo King, and his Cuban/Cuban American family was compelling although the narrative timeline was unnecessarily haphazard. The story bounces around a lot. Valid criticism has been made of the constant focus on Cesars penis and sexual conquests. Come on now lets move along is what I kept thinking. The superficial treatment of women is also a common theme. These are the three reasons that I cant rate the book as a masterpiece or at least five stars. The
As the weather heats up it is easy to envision oneself on a beach with a rum and Coke in hand. The preferred beverage in Cuba before Castro's take over, rum invokes images of Havana as a city teeming with night life and rivaling Miami as the gateway to Latin America. It is with this sensuous imagery at hand that I selected Oscar Hijuelos' Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love as the next book in my ongoing Pulitzer challenge. The first Hispanic to win the award, Hijuelos' steamy book transports its
A very good book in some ways but you will read a LOT about Cesar's "big thing", Priapus erectus giganticus. Someone wrote in their review that the book seems to be about Cesar's penis. Yes, yes, I have to agree. The "pinga" that wouldn't quit. It was his source of happiness and unhappiness from the earliest adolescence through his old age (and he doesn't even get that old as he abuses his body with his excesses). When his girlfriend no longer wants him that is it for him, life over. He has his
Cesar Castillo, the Mambo King himself, is an old man, and is remembering his life (and loves) in Cuba and New York as he approaches death. In the middle of the book is a quote that perfectly describes Cesars life: Me siento contento cuando sufro, he sang one day, I feel happy when Im suffering. Cesar and his younger brother Nestor arrive in New York full of ambition and desire to be musicians. They are talented and willing to work hard, and with some luck, put together an orchestra (The Mambo
After reading this, I couldn't help feeling that I never understood the main character, despite having gone through every significant episode of his life. I suppose it would have affected me more if I were familiar with the mambo culture; perhaps I simply don't have the rhythm this book requires. This is my first experience with Hijuelos, and I find myself wondering whether he's always so sex-obsessed. There's nothing wrong with sex in a novel, especially if it's well-written, but there are
DNF - So disappointing. An extremely engaging six page intro leads into a choppy, entirely sex-focused story that fails to develop atmosphere or nostalgia the way the author intends. It felt like being stuck at a bar next to an old drunk dude wanting to tell you every detail of his life story: how he used to be a musician and slept with just about every chick in NYC at the time. Bully for you, guy. Can I leave now?
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