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 (Click for larger image) 
Hijuelos, Oscar.
A SIMPLE HABANA MELODY (FROM WHEN THE WORLD WAS GOOD) .
New York City, NY:
HarperCollins Publishers,
2002.
Hardcover.
First Edition/First Printing.
342 pages.
As New/As New.
Signed. The author's sixth novel. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Music is one of the running themes of Oscar Hijuelos's oeuvre and it is in full bloom here. "A love song to prewar Cuba and the simple melody at the center of the book named 'Rosas Puras', which was written by Hijuelos's protagonist, the aging composer Israel Levis in the 1920's for his protégé and secret love, the singer Rita Valladares. The novel is set just after World War II, when Levis has returned to his childhood home in Havana after many years in Europe, at first in Paris, then in Buchenwald, where he was interned by Nazis who ignored the crucifix around his neck and focused only on his Sephardic name. The bittersweet feelings Levis bears toward 'Rosas Puras' ('Beautiful Roses'), his best-known song, are further complicated when a German officer, who had gathered some musician/inmates for a concert, ask him to play the catchy old tune, unaware that Levis had written it. A novel of memory, a series of visits to the beautiful, vanished world of Levis's childhood and youth seen through the lens of his later suffering. Written with the author's same richness of detail, sensuality, and musicality. Contains even greater emotional depth and narrative complexity" (Regina Marler). A "must-have" title for Oscar Hijuelos collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in red pen on the title page by Oscar Hijuelos. This is one of the finest signed copies we have ever seen. This title is now out-of-print as hardcover. This is one of relatively few signed copies available online and has no flaws, a pristine beauty. A scarce signed copy thus. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1990 for "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love". One of the most brilliant living American writers. A flawless copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER OSCAR HIJUELOS TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0060175699. $40.00 |
