About the Author

Oscar Hijuelos, the son of Cuban immigrants, was in New York City in 1951. He is a recipient of the Rome Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. His novels - Mambo Kings, Our House in the Last World, The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, Mr. Ives' Christmas, Empress of the Splendid Season and A Simple Habana Melody - have been translated into twenty-five languages. He died in 2013

Reviews

"A brilliant posthumous capstone."--EW.com

"A magical story."--David Baldacci, CBS Sunday Morning

"An extraordinary feat of imaginative historical re-creation."--Booklist (starred review)

"Beautiful Maria is the Queen of the Mambo Kings! Oscar Hijuelos brings this magnificent character to life in this lyrical novel."--Gay Talese, author of A Writer's Life

"By turns street-smart and lyrica, impassioned and reflective, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love is a rich and provocative book."--Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

"Enthralling....A life-affirming novel, a worthy successor to Dickens."--Philadelphia Inquirer

"His most powerful book yet....A wonderfully affecting tale."--New York Times

"It is a rollicking adventure tale, bromance, and portrait of two fascinating men who battled their way to prominence during an era defined by yellow fever, the Civil War, and a pioneering American zeal."--O, The Oprah Magazine

"Oscar Hijuelos, who left us suddenly and far too soon, has been deeply missed by those of us who were his friends-missed both as a friend and as a writer. The friend will not be coming back, but what a miracle that he has given us this last novel-which is a fine and wonderful novel, and surely among the best books Oscar ever wrote."--Paul Auster

"So sad that this is our last Hijuelos novel, so fabulous that we have it."--Library Journal (starred review)

"Stunning....A triumph....With an hoesty at its core that seems almost shocking in this day and age."--Boston Globe

"The final masterpiece by the Pulitzer-Prize-winning writer....Twain fans, get ready."--Huffington Post

"The great Oscar Hijuelos lives on in this ambitious, fascinating, and richly detailed work that, like the author, is in a class by itself."--Gay Talese

"This book is good news for Hijuelos fans."--Kirkus

"TWAIN & STANLEY ENTER PARADISE is a natural and delightful extension of Hijuelos' work, and like his earlier books, this one is distinguished by vitality so intense as to give the reader a charge just picking up the book. . . . a voice that is haunting and mesmerizing, and a story that shows just how fantastic and enjoyable Oscar Hijuelos' imagination really was."--Craig Nova, author of The Good Son

"Vividly imagined and detailed epic...How lucky we are to have this rich novel."--Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

"What a wonder to have Oscar Hijuelos return from the celestial beyond with a tale that is thoroughly of this world and firmly anchored in history! TWAIN & STANLEY ENTER PARADISE is a marvelous blend of research and the imagination, resurrecting two fascinating contemporaries-Mark Twain and Henry Morton Stanley-and lending a bygone era the shimmer of here and now."--Marie Arana, author of American Chica, Cellophane, and Bolívar: American Liberator.

Praise for Beautiful Maria of My Soul:
"I fell instantly in love with the glorious soul ofBeautiful Maria of my Soul. Hijuelos has created and brought to life two beloved characters, a heart-stealing heroine and Havana during an epoch of changing life."--Amy Tan, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God's Wife

Praise for Mr. Ives' Christmas:
"The novel is full of suspense...A tale of...goodwill lost and goodwill regained. The deepest and best of Hijuelos's novels."--New York Times Book Review

Praise for The Mambo Kings: "A rich and sorrowful novel...that alternates crisp narrative with opulent musings--the language of everyday and the language of longing. You finish feeling...ready to throw up your arms and cry, Que bueno es! Mr. Hijuelos is writing music of the heart"--New York Times Book Review