The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love

by Oscar Hijuelos

Paperback, 448 pages

Published May 4, 2010 by Hyperion.

ISBN:: 978-1-4013-1002-8
OCLC Number:: 613334057

(11 reviews)

The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love is a 1989 novel by Oscar Hijuelos. It is about the lives of two Cuban brothers and musicians, Cesar and Nestor Castillo, who immigrate to the United States and settle in New York City in the early 1950s. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1990, being the first novel by a United States-born Hispanic to do so. It was the basis for a 1992 motion picture, The Mambo Kings, as well as a musical in 2005. The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love was published in 1989, and soon became a huge international bestseller. It tells the story of Cesar Castillo, an aged musician who once had a small amount of fame when he and his brother appeared on an episode of I Love Lucy in the 1950s. The book chronicles Cesar’s last hours as he sits in a seedy hotel room, drinking and listening to recordings made by his band, the Mambo Kings. Events and characters whirl through Cesar's mind, evoking what he has lost over the years: his brother and collaborator, Nestor, who spent his adult life constantly rewriting one song about a lost love; the many lovers who gave themselves up to him as he rose triumphantly through the mambo music craze of the early 1950s; and the way of life that disappeared for all Cubans after that country was overthrown by an insurrection led by Fidel Castro in 1959. After coming to the US, Cesar's memories include events in the lives of his and Nestor's girlfriends, wives, and children. In telling Cesar’s story, Hijuelos weaves in cameo appearances by several real-life mambo musicians, including Desi Arnaz, Tito Puente, Pérez Prado, Machito and Mongo Santamaría. The novel develops one of Hijuelos' most common themes: how immigrants adjust to coming to the United States and how they see themselves in relation to their new culture in contrast to the culture of their birth. Also, the book showcases Hijuelos' distinctive, richly detailed description of his characters' lives written in a prose-style that evokes the rhythms of Cuban music.

11 editions

Sharyl reviewed The Mambo kings play songs of love by Oscar Hijuelos

Review of 'The Mambo kings play songs of love' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

"Beautiful Maria of My Soul. A song about love so far away it hurts; a song about lost pleasures, a song about youth, a song about love so elusive a man can never know where he stands; a song about wanting a woman so much death does not frighten you, a song about wanting that woman even when she has abandoned you."

Oscar Hijuelos's novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love is a beautifully written historical novel about Cesar Castillo, who comes to New York City from Cuba in 1949 with his younger brother Nestor with the dream of becoming successful musicians. For a short period of their tumultuous lives, this dream does come true.

At the end of his life in 1980, Cesar has deliberately ensconced himself in The Hotel Splendour, to die alone. This is his story, told in flashback. As the reader will surmise immediately, Cesar Castillo never became rich, never lived an easy life, and the excessiveness of his lifestyle--the constant drinking, the lack of sleep, the womanizing--are there to drown out Cesar's deep-seated emotional problems and unhappiness. Cesar is the brother who is always able to hide this melancholy from himself and others, yet when the withdrawn, taciturn Nestor dies, his defenses crumble. It is as if Nestor bequeathed his depression to his older brother, to carry along with the self-destructive habits that were already there.

Cesar Castillo is a richly drawn character who has his good-natured, generous A side, along with his dastardly B side. He is crippled by the need to be macho, but there is a love-starved, abused boy that is still crying out for help. And so, at the end of his life, there are people he has hurt as well as people who will remember him fondly and gratefully forever.

Oscar Hijuelos made every character's pain throb on the page. He made Cesar's alcoholism painful and his sexual urges unbearable, yet this is not a hard book to read.

The author also brings a time period and culture back to life in this story. I enjoyed the book very much!

Sharyl reviewed The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos

Review of 'The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Beautiful Maria of My Soul. A song about love so far away it hurts; a song about lost pleasures, a song about youth, a song about love so elusive a man can never know where he stands; a song about wanting a woman so much death does not frighten you, a song about wanting that woman even when she has abandoned you."

Oscar Hijuelos's novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love is a beautifully written historical novel about Cesar Castillo, who comes to New York City from Cuba in 1949 with his younger brother Nestor with the dream of becoming successful musicians. For a short period of their tumultuous lives, this dream does come true.

At the end of his life in 1980, Cesar has deliberately ensconced himself in The Hotel Splendour, to die alone. This is his story, told in flashback. As the reader will surmise immediately, Cesar Castillo never became rich, never lived an easy life, and the excessiveness of his lifestyle--the constant drinking, the lack of sleep, the womanizing--are there to drown out Cesar's deep-seated emotional problems and unhappiness. Cesar is the brother who is always able to hide this melancholy from himself and others, yet when the withdrawn, taciturn Nestor dies, his defenses crumble. It is as if Nestor bequeathed his depression to his older brother, to carry along with the self-destructive habits that were already there.

Cesar Castillo is a richly drawn character who has his good-natured, generous A side, along with his dastardly B side. He is crippled by the need to be macho, but there is a love-starved, abused boy that is still crying out for help. And so, at the end of his life, there are people he has hurt as well as people who will remember him fondly and gratefully forever.

Oscar Hijuelos made every character's pain throb on the page. He made Cesar's alcoholism painful and his sexual urges unbearable. And yet, this is not a hard book to read.

The author also brings a time period and culture back to life in this story. I enjoyed the book very much!

Mambo Kings Sing Songs of Love won the Pulitizer Prize in 1990.

A. Rivera reviewed The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos

Review of 'The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I read this back in 2001. I barely got through it since I was between comps. and transferring to library school. It was my first foray into Hijuelos's works, and I enjoyed very much. My impression back then:

>>This is a novel heavy on nostalgia and memory where I could almost hear the music and feel the passion of the characters.<<

I am honestly not sure where some of the bad reviews here on GoodReads for this book come from, but as we say in libraries, "never apologize for your book tastes." I personally think they probably missed something, but again, each reader its book and each book its reader. If some of those who disliked this book decide to give Hijuelos a chance, they may want to try [b:Mr. Ives' Christmas|11670|Mr. Ives' Christmas|Oscar Hijuelos|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166485425s/11670.jpg|14082].