Hijuelos, Oscar 1951–

PERSONAL: Surname is pronounced "E-way-los"; born August 24, 1951, in New York, NY; son of Pascual (a hotel worker) and Magdalena (a homemaker; maiden name, Torrens) Hijuelos; divorced. Ethnicity: Hispanic Education: City College of the City University of New York, B.A., 1975, M.A., 1976. Religion: Catholic. Hobbies and other interests: Pen-and-ink drawing, old maps, turn-of-the-century books and graphics, playing musical instruments, jazz ("I absolutely despise modern rock and roll").

ADDRESSES: Home—211 West 106th St., New York, NY 10025. Office—Hofstra University, English Department, 1000 Fulton Ave., Hempstead, NY 11550.

CAREER: Transportation Display, Inc., Winston Network, New York, NY, advertising media traffic manager, 1977–84; writer, 1984–; Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, professor of English, 1989–.

MEMBER: International PEN.

AWARDS, HONORS: Outstanding Writer citation from Pushcart Press, 1978, for story "Columbus Discovering America"; Oscar Cintas fiction-writing grant, 1978–79; Bread Loaf Writers Conference scholarship, 1980; fiction-writing grant from Creative Artists Programs Service, 1982, and Ingram Merrill Foundation, 1983; Fellowship for Creative Writers award, National Endowment for the Arts, and American Academy in Rome Fellowship in Literature, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, both 1985, both for Our House in the Last World; National Book Award nomination, National Book Critics Circle Prize nomination, and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, all 1990, all for The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love.

WRITINGS:

Our House in the Last World, Persea Books (New York, NY), 1983.

The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 1989.

(Designer) Iguana Dreams: New Latino Fiction, Harp-erPerennial, 1992.

The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 1993.

(Author of introduction) Lori M. Calson, editor, Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States, Holt (New York, NY), 1994.

Mr. Ives' Christmas, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1995.

(Author of introduction) Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler, The Cuban American Family Album, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1996.

Empress of the Splendid Season (novel), HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1999.

A Simple Habana Melody: From When the World Was Good, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2002.

Work represented in anthology Best of Pushcart Press III, Pushcart, 1978.

ADAPTATIONS: The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love was adapted as the film The Mambo Kings in 1992 and as a stage musical set for opening in 2005; Empress of the Splendid Season was adapted for audiobook, 1999; A Simple Habana Melody: From When the World Was Good was adapted for audiobook, 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Award-winning novelist Oscar Hijuelos turns the characters and experiences of his Cuban-American heritage into fictional works that have won both critical and popular praise. As Marie Arana-Ward explained in the Washington Post Book World, "Once in a great while a novelist emerges who is remarkable not for the particulars of his prose but for the breadth of his soul, the depth of his humanity, and for the precision of his gauge on the rising sensibilities of his time…. Hijuelos is one of these."

Hijuelos once explained to CA that his first novel, Our House in the Last World, "traces the lives of a Cuban family who came to the United States in the 1940s and follows them to the death of the father and subsequent near collapse of the family. In many ways a realistic novel, Our House in the Last World also reflects certain Latin attributes that are usually termed 'surreal' or 'magical.' Although I am quite Americanized, my book focuses on many of my feelings about identity and my 'Cubanness.' I intended for my book to commemorate at least a few aspects of the Cuban psyche (as I know it)."

Reviewing Our House in the Last World for the New York Times Book Review, Edith Milton affirmed that Hijuelos is concerned "with questions of identity and perspective," especially those concerning family. Hijuelos is "especially eloquent," lauded Cleveland Plain Dealer critic Bob Halliday, "in describing the emotional storms" that transform the Santinio family of his novel as they "try to assimilate the rough realities of Spanish Harlem in terms of the values and personal identities they have inherited from their homeland." In an article for American Literature, Bridget M. Morgan stated: "Hijuelos compassionately depicts how each of the unequal participants in the American Dream is transformed by the process of assimilation." There is a "central tension," Milton explained, between the "lost, misremembered Eden [Cuba]" and the increasing squalor of the family's new life in their "last world"—New York. "Opportunity seems pure luck" to these wellintentioned immigrants, observed Chicago Tribune Book World reviewer Pat Aufderheide, and, in the absence of hope, each ultimately succumbs to the pressures that "work against the [American] dream of upward mobility." Hijuelos's "elegantly accessible style," Aufderheide stated, "combines innocence and insight" in creating the individual voices of his characters. Beyond that, noted the reviewer, there is a "feel for the way fear … pervades" the Santinios' lives. The characters and the "sheer energy" of the narrative are the book's strengths. Milton concluded that Hijuelos "never loses the syntax of magic, which transforms even the unspeakable into a sort of beauty." Critic Roy Hoffman in the Philadelphia Inquirer called Our House in the Last World a "vibrant, bitter and successful" story and compared Hijuelos to an "urban poet" who creates a "colorful clarity of life." Halliday likewise deemed the book to be a "wonderfully vivid and compassionate" first novel.

It was Hijuelos's Pulitzer Prize-winning second novel, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, that moved him to the first rank of American novelists. Telling the story of two brothers, Cesar and Nestor Castillo, who leave their native Cuba and make careers as singers in the Spanish Harlem of the 1950s, the novel traces the brothers' rise to an appearance on the I Love Lucy television show before fading away from public attention again, like the mambo dance their band played.

The Mambo Kings, Cathleen McGuigan explained in Newsweek, "isn't conventionally plotted; it slides back and forth in time and meanders into dreams and fantasies." The novel is comprised of the dreams and fantasies of Cesar Castillo at the end of his career when he lives in a run-down hotel called the Splendour and drinks away his days. McGuigan noted that Cesar "is a classic portrait of machismo: he's in closest touch with his feelings when they originate below the waist." But she acknowledged that "Hijuelos has a tender touch with his characters, and Cesar is more than a stereotype." Despite the novel's flaws, McGuigan found The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love to be a "vibrant tragicomic novel." Joseph Coates in Chicago's Tribune Books found echoes of magical realism in the novel and felt that it "achieves the long backward look" of novels such as One Hundred Years of Solitude, "dealing as fully with the old worlds the migrants left as with the new ones they find." Writing in the Washington Post Book World, novelist Bob Shacochis also remarked upon Hijuelos's skilled contrasts between Cuban and American life, observing that "his cu-bop music scene gathers credibility as a grand metaphor for the splitting of a national family that took place [with the Cuban revolution] in 1959." Finally, Margo Jefferson of the New York Times Book Review observed that Hijuelos alternates "crisp narrative with opulent musings," achieving a "music of the heart."

Hijuelos's 1993 novel, The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, takes a very different tack from its predecessor. Whereas The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love is told by one male narrator, The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien is told from a number of female viewpoints and spans several generations in the life of a Cuban-Irish family living in Pennsylvania. Writing in Time, Janice E. Simpson praised the novel's warmth, suggesting that reading it "is like leafing through the pages of a treasured family album," but lamented that "the fate of the sisters is determined and defined by their relationships with men." American Literature's Bridget Morgan felt that Hijuelos's work "is a celebration, even in its darkest moments, of the strength of love and family." "Hijuelos … displays a poetic exuberance in The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien," stated George R. McMurray, in a World Literature Today review. Jane Mendelsohn, writing in the London Review of Books, generally admired the way Hijuelos characterizes his female characters, observing that "the novel skillfully chronicles the lives" of all the sisters and that Margarita, in particular, is an embodiment of the "women's movement … in the 20th century." At the same time, Mendelsohn faulted the novel for its sentimentality and concluded that there is "nothing of the glorious flame which set The Mambo Kings on fire." Nick Hornby in the Times Literary Supplement called the novel "at all times readable and diverting," but found that its many characters bog down its pacing. In contrast, Arana-Ward praised the story for its celebration of "human diversity and its promise of vitality," as well as for its compelling characters, who "hold us captive until the very last page."

With the short novel Mr. Ives' Christmas, Hijuelos steps away from his trademark theme of ethnic identity. Edward Ives, the book's chief protagonist, is a foundling of unknown background who is raised by nuns in a New York City orphanage. After several years pass, he is adopted by a man who inspires in Edward a deep and lasting love for Catholicism. When Edward enters adulthood, he works for a Madison Avenue advertising agency and is quite successful in his profession. He marries a wonderful woman, Annie MacGuire, they have a healthy son, Robert, and a younger daughter. Their lives proceed for nearly two decades in a seemingly perfect, secure routine. This peace is shattered, however, a few days before one Christmas, when seventeen-year-old Robert is killed by a hoodlum. Edward's belief in God and the Catholic faith is deeply shaken by this meaningless murder and the book traces how he comes to terms with Robert's death. Writing in Booklist Donna Seaman called Mr. Ives' Christmas a "sad and enchanting novel … of giving and of grace." In a New York Times article, Jack Miles felt that the novel is Hijuelos's "deepest and … best."

Empress of the Splendid Season, published in 1999, features a young woman of aristocratic Cuban descent who is banished from her home when her father discovers her romantic involvement with an older man. Lydia leaves Cuba for New York City, where she meets and marries Raul, another Cuban immigrant. Raul supports Lydia and their two children, Rico and Alicia, by working as a waiter in two restaurants, until he suffers a nearly fatal heart attack. Lydia must then go to work, and as she is not fluent in English, she decides to hire herself out as a housekeeper. The novel reveals not only Lydia's daily work, but her relationship to her clients. There is one whom she particularly likes—an international lawyer named Mr. Osprey, who intervenes in Rico's life when the boy is in trouble.

"While Empress does share similarities with Hijuelos's earlier work," wrote Joseph M. Viera in American Writers, "it nevertheless showcases the talents of a more mature, more seasoned author, as evidenced in the novel's compassionate narrative voice." London Sunday Times writer Phil Baker praised Hijuelos for his "lyrical … use of language" and his characterization of Ly-dia's inner life. "Hijuelos's achingly sweet novel captures beautifully the stateliness, strength and raw sensuality of Lydia España," said reviewer Barbara Mujica in an Américas article. Mujica concluded her review by saying: "Hijuelos transcends stereotypes and cliches, creating characters who speak to us on a profoundly human level."

Hijuelos introduces factual occurrences into his fictional rendition of A Simple Habana Melody: From When the World Was Good. Israel Levis's character is loosely based upon the life of Cuban composer Moises Simons, who brought the rumba rhythm to the United States with his 1930 song "The Peanut Vendor." In Levis's case, he writes a song called "Rosas Puras," basing it on a flower vendor's street call. His song becomes world famous due to a rendition by a Cuban songstress, Rita Valladares, whom Luis loves, unrequited, throughout his life. Hijuelos traces Levis's journeys from Cuba to Paris—where Cuban jazz musicians are highly welcome—to the Buchenwald concentration camp—he is mistaken for a Jew because of his relationship with a Jewish woman and because of his given name—and back to Cuba again.

Several reviewers commented on Hijuelos's novel. "This is a painfully sad novel about a sad man," wrote Mary Ann Horne in the Orlando Sentinel. She added, however, that "Hijuelos restrains his lyrical prose almost to the end of the book but sets it free as he sends Levis off to the afterlife." In the Miami Herald Fabiola Santiago commented: "A Simple Habana Melody is a love story to be enjoyed for its lyrical writing and desperately old-fashioned texture." Santiago found Valla-dares's character "too flatly portrayed," although she may have been "potentially more interesting … than Levis." "Habana Melody is … introspective, melancholy and sweetly elegiac," remarked Jerome Weeks in the Dallas Morning News.

New York Times critic Daniel Zalewski was less impressed by A Simple Habana Melody. The novel's "language … is consistently muted" in comparison to that of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, Zalewski noted, continuing: "The result of all this linguistic tiptoeing is a melancholy, and sometimes wan, novel about the fruits and frustrations of repression." In a St. Louis Post-Dispatch review, Patricia Corrigan felt that Valladeres's character is insufficiently developed to warrant Levis's attachment to her. She also questioned the insertion of a small incident when Levis seems attracted to the physical appearance of a man: "the references to homosexual tendencies read as though tacked on." Yet, Corrigan added, "As always, Hijuelos's powers of description are masterful, even lyrical, and occasionally droll, sometimes all at once."

"This heartbreaking novel laments lost love while it helps us remember how love felt when we were young," commented Booklist's Bill Ott of A Simple Habana Melody. Allan Turner, writing in the Houston Chronicle, opined that "Hijuelos perhaps resolves his novel a bit too neatly," but noted, however, that the novel's "bittersweet strains will resonate long after the last page is turned." A Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that the author "triumphs in capturing the sights and sounds of Habana at the edge of modernity," while a Kirkus reviewer dubbed the book a "masterpiece of history, music, wonder and sorrow." Francine Prose stated in an O review that "A Simple Habana Melodykeeps us enthralled, then lingers in our minds."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

American Literature, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1999.

American Writers, Supplement VIII, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1998.

Contemporary Hispanic Biography Volume 1, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 2002.

Contemporary Literary Criticism, Volume 65, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1990.

Contemporary Novelists, 7th edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 2001.

Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 145: Modern Latin-American Fiction Writers, Second Series, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1994.

PERIODICALS

Américas, July, 1999, Barbara Mujica, review of Empress of the Splendid Season, p. 62.

Americas Review, Volume 22, number 1-2, pp. 274-276.

Bloomsbury Review, May, 1990, p. 5.

Book, May-June, 1999, Patrick Markee, "Oscar Hijuelos and the Old Neighborhood."

Booklist, October 1, 1995, Donna Seaman, review of Mr. Ives' Christmas; August, 1999, review of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, p. 2024; May 1, 2002, Bill Ott, review of A Simple Habana Melody: From When the World Was Good, p. 1445; January 1, 2003, review of A Simple Habana Melody, p. 792.

Boston Globe, November 18, 1990, p. 21.

Chicago Tribune, August 9, 1990, p. 1; January 3, 1993; May 30, 1993, sec. 6, p. 5; December 24, 1996.

Chicago Tribune Book World, July 17, 1983.

Christian Century, May 22, 1996, p. 581.

Dallas Morning News, July 3, 2002, Jerome Weeks, review of A Simple Habana Melody.

Entertainment Weekly, March 19, 1993, p. 57.

Hispanic, June, 2002, Fabiola Santiago, review of A Simple Habana Melody, p. 58.

Horn Book, May-June, 1995, p. 316.

Houston Chronicle, March 6, 1999, Joan Ann Zuniga, review of Empress of the Splendid Season, p. 41; June 23, 2002, Allan Turner, review of A Simple Habana Melody, p. 16.

Insight on the News, October 23, 1989, p. 56.

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2002, review of A Simple Habana Melody, p. 359.

Library Journal, January, 1999, review of Empress of the Splendid Season, p. 150; April 1, 2002, review of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, p. 168; May 1, 2002, review of a Simple Habana Melody, p. 133.

London Review of Books, September 23, 1993, p. 23.

Los Angeles Times, April 16, 1990, p. 1.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, September 3, 1989, p. 1; March 14, 1993, pp. 3, 8; March 7, 1999, review of Empress of the Splendid Season, p. 3.

Los Angeles Times Magazine, April 18, 1993, pp. 22-28, 54.

Miami Herald, May 29, 2002, Fabiola Santiago, review of A Simple Habana Melody.

New Republic, March 22, 1993, pp. 38-41.

New Statesman, December 15, 1995, p. 64.

Newsweek, August 21, 1989, p. 60.

New York, March 1, 1993, p. 46.

New Yorker, March 29, 1993, p. 107; August 21, 1995, pp. 126-127.

New York Times, September 11, 1989, p. C17; April 1, 1993, p. C17.

New York Times Book Review, May 15, 1983; August 27, 1989, pp. 1, 30; March 7, 1993, p. 6; December 3, 1995, Jack Miles, review of Mr. Ives' Christmas, p. 9; February 5, 1999, Michiko Kakutani, review of Empress of the Splendid Season, p. E45; February 21, 1999, Verlyn Klinkenborg, review of Empress of the Splendid Season, p. 5; June 23, 2002, Daniel Zalewski, review of A Simple Habana Melody, p. 11; July 7, 2002, review of A Simple Habana Melody, P.18.

O, June, 2002, Francine Prose, review of A Simple Habana Melody, p. 155.

Observer (London, England), July 25, 1993, p. 53; February 21, 1999, review of Empress of the Splendid Season, p. 13; December 19, 1999, review of Empress of the Splendid Season, p. 14.

Orlando Sentinel, July 31, 2002, Mary Ann Horne, review of A Simple Habana Melody.

People, April 5, 1993, p. 26.

Philadelphia Inquirer, July 17, 1983.

Publishers Weekly, July 21, 1989, pp. 42, 44; February 1, 1999, review of Empress of the Splendid Season, p. 35; May 20, 2002, review of A Simple Habana Melody, p. 46.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 16, 2002, Patricia Corri-gan, review of A Simple Habana Melody, p. F10.

Spectator, February 27, 1999, review of Empress of the Splendid Season, p. 37.

Sunday Times (London, England), December 12, 1999, Phil Baker, review of Empress of the Splendid Season, p. 45.

Time, August 14, 1989, p. 68; March 29, 1993, pp. 63, 65; March 15, 1999, review of Empress of the Splendid Season, p. 92.

Times Literary Supplement, August 6, 1993, p. 19; February 19, 1999, Henry Hitchings, review of Empress of the Splendid Season, p. 22.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), August 13, 1989, p. 6; January 3, 1993, p. 6.

U.S. Catholic, May, 1996, p. 46.

Village Voice, May 1, 1990, p. 85.

Wall Street Journal, February 5, 1999, Wendy Bounds, review of Empress of the Splendid Season, p. W10.

Washington Post Book World, August 20, 1989; March 14, 1993, pp. 1, 10; January 31, 1999, review of Empress of the Splendid Season, p. 5.

World Literature Today, winter, 1994, George R. McMurray, review of The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, p. 127.