LOVE FOR LIVRES

0710

It tells the story of Cesar Castillo, an aged musician who once had a small amount of fame when he and his brother appeared on an episode of I Love Lucy in the 1950s. The book chronicles Cesar’s last hours as he sits in a seedy hotel room, drinking and listening to recordings made by his band, the Mambo Kings.Events and characters whirl through Cesar's mind, evoking what he has lost over the years: his brother and collaborator, Nestor, who spent his adult life constantly rewriting one song about a lost love the many lovers who gave themselves up to him as he rose triumphantly through the mambo music craze of the early 1950s and the way of life that disappeared for all Cubans after that country was overthrown by an insurrection led by Fidel Castro in 1959. After coming to the US, Cesar's memories include events in the lives of his and Ernesto's girlfriends, wives, and children. In telling Cesar’s story, Hijuelos weaves in cameo appearances by several real-life mambo musicians, including Desi Arnaz, Tito Puente, Pérez Prado, Machito and Mongo Santamaría.The novel develops one of Hijuelos' most common themes: how immigrants adjust to coming to the United States and how they see themselves in relation to their new culture in contrast to the culture of their birth. Pulitzer Prize.