The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Oscar Hijuelos
- First Published: 1989
- Type of Work: Novel
- Genres: Long fiction, Historical fiction, Family literature
- Subjects: 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Music or musicians, New York City, American Dream, 1980’s, Child abuse, Immigration or emigration, Multiculturalism, Cuba or Cubans, Television or television broadcasting, Bilingualism, Latinos, Latin America or Latin Americans
- Locales: New York, NY, Hollywood, CA, Havana, Cuba
Hijuelos's original working title for his second novel was The Secrets of a Poor Man's Life. The version published as The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love shares those secrets in ornate prose that is often graphically erotic. The book, which became an enormous commercial and critical success and was adapted into a 1992 film, recounts the foiled ambitions of Cesar and Nestor Castillo. The ambitious young musicians arrive in New York from Havana in 1949 and, calling themselves the Mambo Kings, begin to establish careers in the lively postwar Latino nightclubs. While telling...
[The entire page is 674 words long]
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