The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love

I found this book exceptionally disappointing - and I had such great expectations about this particular work. I enjoyed the film, the book won the pulitzer, and the topic could hardly be more exciting. I wanted to include the book in a course I was teaching that explored the Latin experience in the US - this would have put the Mambo Kings in the company of the Julia Alvarez's Garcia Girls and Cristina Garcia's Dreaming in Cuban (great books both). Alas the Mambo Kings deserve no such exalted company.
After struggling through a few chapters of disjointed paragraphs and mangled syntax I finally gave up on the book all together. I concluded that the book was poorly written, poorly edited, poorly developed - but brilliantly marketed.
I am upset that it was awarded the pulitzer. It now seems to me that it was awarded because of its Latin theme and its Latin author. If this is the case there are several Latin authors who CAN WRITE - like Alvavez and Garcia. Alvarez and Garcia deserve such honors not for being Latin but for being writers!
If you are interested in the Mambo Kings you are better off watching the film - its shorter and a lot less painful. Actually the film is a pleasure as REAL Mambo Kings Tito Puentes and Celia Cruz perform throughout. Conclusion: this is one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book.

Any serious reader who has failed to read The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love has missed on the pleasure of savoring this masterpiece. Hijuelos has written an extraordinary book: outstanding in its originality and heart-wrenchingly honest. Trust me, once you meet the Castillo brothers you will be wondering whether they are characters created by Hijuelos or close relatives that you had never heard of. I fell in love with this book because it is a book about life--it is the type of book that compels readers to wonder: What did I do today to enjoy life at its fullest. Bravo for Hijuelos; he belongs to a very exclusive group of writers whose books made me cry.

Oscar Hijuelos is a truly gifted writer who makes a uniquely American experience and era of music come alive with a passionate honesty for which he is worthy of great credit. One deeply feels the alienation of the brothers in New York where they search for their Cuban heritage and can never get beyond their longing for their lost country. There is an emptiness, a painful longing that can never be filled except by alcohol, music and love. They are trapped within the machismo prevalent in their heyday and seem to find a hollow solace there -- never quite connecting with a fulfilling or enduring love. The many relationships are exciting but temporary and those that are deep do not last. Yet in them the elder Castillo finds that life is lived intensely, even if the intensity is fleeting. His descriptions of his love for his mother are moving and his sacrifices to learn and pursue his art command respect.They are sacrifices that every devoted artist recognizes. Hijuelos definitely understands the music crafted, like much great art, out of agony of the spirit. The reader is transported to another era with a realism that rings true. Their suffering is the origin of their consciousness and the essence of their best music.The music is omniscient from the clanking on the pipes in claves to the boleros that define their experience. The encounters with Desi Arnaz were a nice creative touch, a rounding out of their experience, and a foil for their own poverty amid the American Dream. Hijuelos seems to have brought some of his own cultural experience in New York into play with great conviction and depth. The writing style is truly innovative and the honesty in the writing is genuinely compelling.

I wish I had more time to evangelize about this book. Hijuelos has provided us with a window into Cuban and Cuban-American culture of the 40's and 50's with all it's machismo and lusty appetites. If you've ever overheard any kind of Latin music in New York City on a steamy summer night with the windows open, then you know the magic the book conveys. If you've ever been transported by the openly flirtatious glance of a dark man or woman, then you must read this book. If you have ever been aware that life can be both beautiful and tragic at the exact same moment, then this book is for you.

What a wonderful book. I highly, highly recommend it. The story passed through worlds real (alcoholic families and accidental deaths) and unreal (Desi Arnaz eating arroz con pollo at the brothers' kitchen table). I could not put the book down. I rooted for Cesar Castillo, despite his womanizing ways, and cried when life seemed to fail him. It's cliche, but I was transported to that smoky dance hall, where the sweat steams off the cigarette girls and you can hear the "I Love Lucy" music in the background. I wish more authors wrote with such heart.

Amazing author that is able to take you through the life of a cuba musician. The lesson this book serves in spades is that sometimes life doesn't turn out the way you had hoped it to but you can still enjoy the ride