"The Mambo Kings Play Songs Of Love" (1989), Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novel by Oscar Hijuelos

[DonRocks]

Did anyone besides me read "The Mambo Kings Play Songs Of Love?" It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1990, but boy I sure didn't think it was all that good. Anyway, it had Desi Arnaz as an ongoing theme throughout the novel - I suspect Arnaz was probably the most famous Cuban in the western Hemisphere until Castro seized power.

Sorry not to see this before now. Yes, I read it when it first came out in paperback and was pretty much revolted by what I considered the pornographic aspects of it. I thought it would have been much, much better without all that gratuitousness.

But what a cool-looking cover (I suspect that, along with the title, is why 80% of the people bought the book).

Sadly, Oscar Hijuelos passed away just a few months ago. That's how I want to go, man - he collapsed playing tennis, and just didn't regain consciousness.