The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love

The Pulitzer Prize-winning modern classic of two Cuban musician brothers during the mambo-filled nights of 1950s New York, from literary trailblazer Oscar Hijuelos

It's 1949, and two young Cuban musicians make their way from Havana to the grand stage of New York City. It is the era of mambo, and the Castillo brothers, workers by day, become stars of the dance halls by night, where their orchestra plays the lush, sensuous, pulsing music that earns them the title "Mambo Kings." This is their moment of youth, exuberance, love, and freedom―a golden time that decades later is remembered with nostalgia and deep affection.

Oscar Hijuelos's portrait of the Castillo brothers, their families, their fellow musicians and lovers, and their triumphs and tragedies recreates the sights and sounds of an era in music and an unsung moment in American life. Exuberantly celebrated from the moment it was published in 1989, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1990, making Hijuelos the first Hispanic recipient of the award. It remains a perennial bestseller, with the story's themes of cultural fusion and identity still relevant today.