Our House in the Last World / Edition 2

by Oscar Hijuelos

Overview

The debut novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, reissued in a new trade paperback format and design. Bearing all the hallmarks of Hijuelos's later work—exuberance, passion, honesty, and humor—this debut novel was heralded on its publication twenty years ago as "virtuoso writing...a novel of great warmth and tenderness" (New York Times Book Review). Filled with the sights and sounds of Cuba's Oriente province and New York City, the music and films of the fifties, lusty fantasies and the toughest of life's realities, it is the unforgettable story of Hector Santinio, the American-born son of Cuban immigrants, who is haunted by tales of "home" (a Cuba he has never seen) and by the excesses and then the death of his loving father. This edition includes a new autobiographical introduction by the author, reflecting on how he came to write Our House in the Last World, and a new afterword in which he comments on the story.

Author Biography: Oscar Hijuelos was born in New York City, where he still lives. He is the author of six novels, including Empress of the Splendid Season and A Simple Habana Melody (from when the world was good).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900892552831
Publication date:	05/01/1983
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

The child of Cuban immigrants, Oscar Hijuelos (1951–2013) was an American-born novelist and the first Hispanic writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction (1990).  He also won the Rome Prize (1985) and The Hispanic Heritage Award for Literature (2000). His eight novels have been translated into twenty-five languages.

Hometown:

New York, New York

Date of Birth:

August 24, 1951

Place of Birth:

New York, New York

Education:

B.A., City College of the City University of New York, 1975; M.A.,1976

Editorial Reviews

''Our House in the Last World'' is a novel of great warmth and tenderness. . . . he never loses the syntax of magic, which transforms even the unspeakable into a sort of beauty.
— The New York Times

Edith Milton

The chaotic experience of Cubans transplanted to New York City throbs through the narrator's voice in this debut novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love . ``Elegiac as well as bittersweet and celebratory, the lusty tone of this novel compensates for its erratic structure,'' stated PW. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist launched his career with this 1983 title. The autobiographical work is the coming-of-age story of Hector Santino. Born in New York City to Cuban immigrants, Hector learns about his parent's native country and his heritage through their stories. This edition contains a new introduction and afterword by Hijuelos. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

"Just about the finest first novel ever written . . . one of those great works of art that breaks your heart and yet miraculously makes you whole - a towering achievement."

Junot Díaz

"What a pleasure that Our House in the Last World, in a new edition, will be readily available when we most need it, a story that stands up for the dignity of American immigrants."

Esmeralda Santiago

"Never loses the syntax of magic...a novel of great warmth and tenderness."

The New York Times Book Review