Which Oscar Hijuelos novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1990?

Which Oscar Hijuelos novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1990? The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love won the prize.

Oscar Hijuelos’s 1989 novel follows Cuban brothers César and Nestor Castillo, musicians who immigrate to New York and pursue careers during the mambo boom of the 1950s. The narrative explores family, migration, romance, cultural memory, ambition, and the changing relationship between Cuban identity and life in the United States.

Much of the story unfolds through César’s memories as he listens to recordings in a hotel room near the end of his life. The brothers’ fictional musical world intersects with real figures such as Desi Arnaz, Tito Puente, Pérez Prado, Machito, and Mongo Santamaría. The novel’s title refers to the brothers’ musical persona and their connection to the era’s popular dance culture.

The book won the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was widely recognized as a breakthrough for Latino representation in major American literary prizes. It later inspired the 1992 film The Mambo Kings and a 2005 musical. Hijuelos published a related follow-up, Beautiful María of My Soul, in 2010.