At least two or three times, he mentions the man's 'thick tongue' when describing a kiss.

This is really quite weird. It makes one wonder about the author's choice of words and the image it creates in the reader's mind.

If you have a penchant for reading horrible books that have won big prizes like the Pulitzer, then by all means, read this one.

Perhaps the strange description of the kiss is just one of the many elements that contribute to the overall horror and unease that the book is intended to evoke.

However, it's important to note that everyone's definition of 'horrible' may vary, and what one person finds repulsive, another might find fascinating.

So, if you're feeling adventurous and want to explore a book that pushes the boundaries of what is considered normal or acceptable, this could be the one for you.

But be warned, it may not be for the faint of heart.

I truly loved this one! It was an absolutely fantastic read that provided a great and in-depth look into the golden age of the mambo orchestras. Cesar Castillo, despite having many flaws such as misogyny and sexual assault, is a rather sympathetic character. In many ways, he seems to be more a product of his time rather than a deliberately misogynist one. He is a macho who feels the need to assert this trait until the end of his life.

The tragedy of the story is known right from the beginning, yet the story flows smoothly and drives you forward through it. It reads just like a telenovela on the screen, pulling you in and convincing you of the time, place, and action of the story.

The circular trajectory of the story serves to reinforce the central tragedies of the novel and really brings home the idea of being lost. Lost in time, lost in love, in a foreign land, and even in one's own land. Hijuelos describes perfectly the mooning nature of the romantic depressive and showcases an entire culture of them. Nestor is not the only depressive; he is just the most obvious one. Everyone in the story is the result of what we would today call a broken home, not just in the sense that it's split but that the family is truly broken and unable to function 'properly'. No one has a happy home life, at least not for very long. They are happy for a while, and then they realize that something is missing or that they want something more, and then things start to fall apart. None of them really know how to be happy unless they are losing themselves in something like music or books.

In this respect, I find that I can identify with the characters. It is extremely hard to actually be happy with what you have, even if you have almost everything that you desire. Even when everything is going well for you, it is difficult to stay contented. We are conditioned to always want and expect more, and this book seems to make you question whether that is really a good idea. Should we always be striving for something more? When do we know that we have enough? When is something good enough? When is it actually perfect? And if you have something perfect, does it become imperfect simply because you possess it?

The main character in this book is an old guy who is drinking in a hotel room. And to its credit, I guess, the book is a lot like being in a hotel room with an old guy. There are stories from his bygone youth, and a few central events are repeated again and again in different lights.

I kept wanting to get up and say "Welp, look at the time! Gotta go, OK bye". And then a new yarn would begin, and the next thing I knew another couple of hours or a hundred pages would be gone. Eventually, the guy dies and the book is over, and I could finally leave.

If you are the kind of reader who really likes to know how the protagonist's dick is doing, this book will be great for you, because there's a dick status update on just about every page. As for me, I did a lot of eye rolling.

Names of Cuban musicians and mambos from the 50s are dropped liberally throughout the book. And I looked up lots of songs from Perez Prado and others. That was the best part of the book for me. It should come with a soundtrack!

It's truly challenging to review this without delving into food metaphors, but I'll do my utmost best.

This is an excellent novel to pick up when you're in need of something that you can really sink your teeth into (oh my!). Or perhaps, to put it more accurately, if you desire something that will latch onto you and not let go. This book doesn't require a great deal of effort to read, yet I recall it being a rather intense emotional experience. I know I was completely absorbed while reading it, and years later, what I remember of it can essentially be condensed into the following:

1. SEX. A significant portion of this book is centered around the Act, in all its glorious and sometimes repulsive aspects. I believe it offers a rather good treatment of an often overused subject.

2. I LOVE LUCY. In fact, I've always detested Lucy - well, not her specifically, but the show. However, the sitcom has such a wonderful place within this book, and Lucille and Desi make such a lovely, recurring cameo that I've developed much warmer feelings towards the entire thing since reading this.

3. SPANISH HARLEM. I have a deep affection for NY.

4. THE HORRORS OF GROWING OLD. Especially for a once-handsome, sex-obsessed, overweight, emotionally-stunted, alcoholic Cuban musician.

It's a great book!

Beautiful Maria of My Soul. It's a song that encapsulates a love so distant it causes physical pain. It's about lost pleasures, the essence of youth, and a love so intangible that a man is left constantly guessing his position. It's a song about desiring a woman to such an extent that death holds no fear, and still longing for her even when she has deserted you.

Oscar Hijuelos's novel, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, is a magnificently written historical work. It tells the story of Cesar Castillo, who, in 1949, arrives in New York City from Cuba with his younger brother Nestor, both怀揣着成为成功音乐家的梦想. For a brief span in their tumultuous lives, this dream does indeed materialize.

By the end of his life in 1980, Cesar has deliberately secluded himself in The Hotel Splendour, prepared to die alone. This is his story, presented in flashback. As the reader will quickly infer, Cesar Castillo never achieved wealth, never led an easy life. The excesses of his lifestyle - the constant drinking, lack of sleep, and womanizing - are attempts to drown out his deep-rooted emotional issues and unhappiness. Cesar is the brother who can always hide this melancholy from himself and others, but when the withdrawn, taciturn Nestor passes away, his defenses crumble. It's as if Nestor bequeathed his depression to his older brother, adding to the self-destructive habits that were already present.

Cesar Castillo is a richly developed character with both his good-natured, generous side and his less savory side. He is hampered by his need to be macho, yet there is a love-starved, abused boy within him still crying out for help. And so, at the end of his life, there are those he has hurt as well as those who will remember him fondly and gratefully forever.

Oscar Hijuelos makes every character's pain palpable on the page. He portrays Cesar's alcoholism and sexual urges in a way that is both painful and intense. And yet, this is not a difficult book to read.

The author also resurrects a time period and culture in this story. I thoroughly enjoyed the book!

Mambo Kings Sing Songs of Love won the Pulitzer Prize in 1990.

I'm truly sorry, Óscar, hombre. But I've endured a great deal of pain while dealing with you. For a long time, I had been eagerly anticipating reading your book. You were on my list of American Hispano authors that I intended to explore. I had already come across several reviews that weren't overly positive, yet I still held out hope. And I have to admit that they were spot-on. The book is rather lengthy and repetitive. Just a couple of ideas have been stretched out to form a long tome. I have the distinct feeling that I've read the same sentences numerous times.

Anyway, with the story constantly looping back and all the descriptions of the Mambo King's fabulous artillery and his sexual prowess only adding to the monotony. After so many f...s, you simply lose track of who you're even talking about. There were only a few pages where I truly felt immersed in the book. I did my utmost to read several books simultaneously to escape the tedium of just reading this one. Sadly, it was all in vain. Bad luck indeed.

If The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love was the best American fiction had to offer in 1989 (it won the Pulitzer), then it must have been a pretty anemic year. I saw the film adaptation of this novel, starring Antonio Banderas and Armand Assante, a couple of years after it was released in 1992 and had a much better experience. The film accomplishes what the novel, sadly, does not.

Oscar Hijuelos clearly had high hopes for this tale of brotherhood, immigration, sex, music, and loss, but they turned out to be illusory. This is a novel of aesthetics and appetites. If Hijuelos's aim was to swath readers in the atmosphere and delights experienced by Cesar and Nestor, I think he did his job. But somehow I think he was aiming higher.

This tale of two Cuban brothers, one an angel, the other a demon, who come to NYC in the 1940s and form a Latin band is fertile ground to explore a collage of themes. And to his credit, the author makes a worthy attempt, cramming as much as he can into this chunky book. However, the problem is that like the many one-dimensional female characters who occupy this book, Hijuelos allowed himself to be seduced by Cesar, Nestor, and the halcyon days before NYC began its midcentury decline. No one can resist the Mambo Kings.

In trying to give readers a novel of substance and importance, Hijuelos surrenders to every stereotype about Cuban men there is: too much eating, drinking, bragging, swaggering, and screwing. Every Cuban man in this book is lustful and lusted after. Even a daughter forms a mildly incestuous attraction to her father after seeing his large erect penis by accident while he sleeps. I lost count of how many sexual encounters took place in this rather orgiastic novel, and there was a description of an enormous penis every three or four pages. Seriously. No joke. I'm sex positive and never shy away from descriptions of any kind of sex in literature, but the rampant sex in this novel seems to serve no purpose. It felt as if the author inserted a gratuitous sex scene whenever his imagination failed him. The sex was repetitive and tiresome, and after a while I became embarrassed for Hijuelos.

Also, he breaks a lot of rules in this novel: telling rather than showing, writing long lists on just about every page, summing up important plot points in a short sentence or two, or just having them take place off the page. I don't have a problem with him wanting to dwell in the food, sex, music, and good times, but for me that alone does not make superior, transformative literature.

For its time, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (why didn't Hijuelos's editor make him shorten the title?) would have been a breakthrough novel. In an era where multiculturalism was bursting onto the landscape and Baby Boomers of every race and ethnicity were exploring their cultural and familial roots, this is just the type of novel the American literati would have latched on to. (It should be noted that Hijuelos was the first Hispanic/Latino person to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.) It's just that this book, like so many others, is a casualty of history. Watch the film instead.

I did not have an affinity for this book, and I simply can't get rid of the thought that there must be something wrong with me. After all, it won a Pulitzer Prize for goodness sake! I found myself ready for the main character, the King, to meet his end long before it actually happened. I feel a bit remorseful about that. Perhaps the book offers a realistic portrayal of these individuals and Cuban culture, but it fails to provide an enjoyable reading experience. I also feel sorry for the female characters. Their stories seem to be overshadowed or not fully developed. It makes me wonder if the author could have done more to bring out their personalities and struggles. Overall, while the book may have some literary merits, it just didn't resonate with me on a personal level.

Maybe I need to give it another chance or approach it from a different perspective. But for now, my initial impression remains.

This book is truly a remarkable piece of literature. It is filled with nostalgia, taking the reader back to a bygone era. The exotic setting adds an allure that is simply captivating. The erotic and narcotic elements add a touch of mystery and excitement.

It is a beautiful book that I have found myself returning to time and time again. Each time I open its pages, I am completely swept up in the emotions it evokes. The author has a remarkable ability to create a vivid and immersive world with just words on a page.

The melodies of the Mambo era seem to dance off the pages, along with the smells of rural Cuban cane fields, the sweat of a dance hall, and the swelter of a New York City summer. The two main characters, Cesar and Nestor, have completely different ways of loving, but both are equally compelling.

Nestor's love is an ideal, something out of reach that causes him nothing but pain. Cesar, on the other hand, loves all of womankind with an unquenchable thirst. He is like a Marvin Gaye album, full of passion and sensuality.

Contrary to what some have claimed, I did not find the book sexist. Instead, I found it to be unabashedly sensual, celebrating the music, culture, and era in which it is set. If your greatest erogenous zone is your mind, or if you believe in living a life drenched in passion and pleasure to its fullest capacity, then this book is for you. And if you simply enjoy rich storytelling, you will surely love this book.

This is a truly great book that is extremely well-written.

It is filled with passion, honesty, and a raw quality that makes it captivating from start to finish.

The author has done an excellent job of bringing the story and the characters to life.

However, I do have one minor criticism. I feel that the book could have ended a bit sooner.

I think it was a bit on the long side, which in a way watered down the story.

There were some parts that could have been edited out or condensed to make the narrative more concise and impactful.

But despite this small flaw, overall, I really enjoyed the book.

It has left a lasting impression on me and I would highly recommend it to others.

It is a must-read for anyone who loves a good story that is told with passion and authenticity.

If there was a competition to include a cringy description of a penis on every page of your novel, without ever using the actual word, this book would be a winner.

It's truly astonishing how the author managed to achieve such a feat. The descriptions are so elaborate and yet so inappropriate that it makes one wonder what was going through their mind.

However, to be fair, there was a touching episode in the middle of the book. It was a moment that proved that the author indeed has the ability to write beautifully and evoke genuine emotions.

But then, it begs the question: why would an author with such talent choose to write all this nonsense? It will remain a mystery to me - a mystery that I do not intend to solve. Maybe it's a case of artistic experimentation gone wrong, or perhaps there's a deeper meaning that I'm just not seeing.

Either way, this book is a strange and unforgettable read, one that will surely leave a lasting impression on anyone who has the misfortune to pick it up.

I simply cannot BELIEVE that this book managed to win a Pulitzer. I was initially drawn to it because of its shiny red cover, which boasted a big silver medal-looking sticker on the front. Yes, I'll admit it, that's how I often judge books at first glance.

The perspective of Cuban history, living in New York as a Cuban, and the music scene was indeed interesting. However, it was unfortunately overshadowed by the long-winded, self-pitying, and self-destructive fatalistic characters. For the most part, these characters were unlikable and difficult to relate to. Moreover, there were pages and pages dedicated to descriptions of sex. And let me tell you, it wasn't the kind of sexy sex that you might find in a DH Lawrence novel. No, it was more like a clinical, forensic examination of sex.

I'm quite certain that there are much better books out there about Cuban jazz musicians, if that's your particular area of interest. I almost never label a book as "DO NOT READ," even if I didn't have a great personal experience with it. But this book is one of the rare exceptions. Interestingly, though, I seem to be one of the only people who feels this way. Clearly, the Pulitzer committee didn't share my opinion.