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Oscar Hijuelos' "Mambo Kings."

Writer Oscar Hijuelos (E-Whell-Los). His recent novel, "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love," just won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It's the story of Cuban immigrant brothers who work by day at grimy, exhausting jobs in a meat-packing house, but by night, in silk suits and lace ties, play the mambo, the vibrant, footloose music of Cuba. Surrounded by musicians wearing vests decorated with sequined palm trees, the Castillo brothers try to secure their own version of the American Dream. Their lives climax when they appear on the "I Love Lucy Show." Hijuelos' first novel, "Our House In the Last World," was a largely autobiographical account of the Cuban immigrant experience. (Repeat. Originally broadcast 8/28/89).

11:24

Other segments from the episode on April 16, 1990

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, April 16, 1990: Interview with Lawrence Weschler; Review of Ornette Coleman's albums "New York is Now" and "Love Call"; Interview with Oscar Hijuelos; Review of the…

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