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Oscar Hijuelos (Magill’s Choice: American Ethnic Writers)

Author Profile

Oscar Hijuelos’ family came from the Oriente province of Cuba. Hijuelos was reared amid two divergent worlds: that of Columbia University, teeming with scholars, and that of Morningside Park, overflowing with drug addicts and muggers. At age four, Hijuelos and his mother visited Cuba, and upon his return, he succumbed to nephritis. Bedridden, Hijuelos lingered in a hospital for two years. The theme of separation and isolation, especially from family, saturates Hijuelos’ novels. After receiving his master’s degree in 1976 from the City University of New...

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