His second novel catapulted him onto the bestseller list and earned him international acclaim. The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (1989), set in the 1950s, tells the story of Cuban brothers and their journey from Havana to New York where they start an orchestra. Described as lyrical and exhilarating by critics, the novel won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1990, making Hijuelos the first Hispanic writer to receive this honor. The book was later turned into a film starring Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas.