The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (Magill’s Choice: American Ethnic Writers)
At a glance:
- Author: Oscar Hijuelos
- First Published: 1989
- 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
The Work
Oscar Hijuelos’ life in an advertising agency had little to do with his passion for writing. When he first began thinking of the story that would become The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, he knew that an uncle and an elevator operator would be his models. The uncle, a musician with Xavier Cugat in the 1930’s and a building superintendent patterned after an elevator-operator-musician merged to become Cesar Castillo, the Mambo King. Cesar’s brother, Nestor, laconic, retrospective, lamenting the loss of a lover he left behind in Cuba, writes the song in her...
[The entire page is 549 words long]
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