Product Description
Biography of award-winning actor, Jimmy Smits, best known for his televison roles in "L.A. Law" and "NYPD BLUE." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

children's book on Jimmy Smits
I didn't know it was a children's book when I purchased it.Book was well done for the younger audience.

Fun for Jimmy Smits Fans
I can't see anyone who is not a Jimmy Smits fan to be very interested in this book. But if you are a fan and collect Smits bits and pieces, be sure and buy a copy. Included are a few nice photos and a brief outline of theThe Big Guy's life. Be warned--there are a few errors in the information,but mostly just little things a fanatic like myself would find jarring. Bewarned too--it is a bit pricey for what you get, as it is definately at ajuvenile reading level. All in all, as a devout Smits fan, I'm glad to havemy copy of one of the few books about this publicity-shy hero! ... Read more

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Chapters: Puerto Rican People of Surinamese Descent, Jimmy Smits, Robert Van Lierop. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 20. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Jimmy Smits (born July 9, 1955) is an American actor. Smits is perhaps best known for his roles as lawyer Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s legal drama L.A. Law (a role he played from 1986 to 1991), as Detective Bobby Simone in the 1990s police drama NYPD Blue (a role he played from 1994 to 1998), and also as Matt Santos on The West Wing (which he played from 200406). He is also notable for portraying Bail Organa in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and Miguel Prado in Dexter. He will also star in NBC's Outlaw, a show about a Supreme Court justice who leaves the bench to return to practicing law. Smits was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Cornelius Smits, was a Surinamese immigrant of Dutch descent who managed a screen-printing factory. His mother, Emilina, was a Puerto Rican who worked as a nurse. He has two sisters, Yvonne and Diana. He grew up in a working-class neighborhood and spent time in Puerto Rico during his childhood. Smits earned a bachelor's degree from Brooklyn College in 1980 and an MFA from Cornell University in 1982. Though born in New York, Smits has deep Puerto Rican roots and frequently visits the island. He was arrested for his participation in protests against U.S. Navy bombing practices on the Puerto Rican offshore island of Vieques. Smits at the 39th Annual Emmy Awards in 1987A notable early role played by Smits was that of Eddie Rivera in the series premiere of Miami Vice. In the episode, he was Sonny Crockett's original partner, only to be shortly killed off in a sting gone wrong. He played Victor Sifuentes in the first five seasons of the long-running legal drama L.A. Law. Smits played a Conky Repairman...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=393065 ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Jennifer Lopez, José Ferrer, Marc Anthony, Raúl Juliá, Benicio Del Toro, Jimmy Smits, Ricky Martin, Freddie Prinze Jr., Juano Hernández, Amaury Nolasco, Luis Guzmán, David Zayas, Domingo Quiñones, Holly Woodlawn, Ramón Rodríguez, José Miguel Agrelot. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Jennifer Lopez est une danseuse, actrice, productrice et chanteuse de Pop music et de R'n'B contemporain, américaine d'origine porto-ricaine, née le 24 juillet 1969 à Castle Hill dans le Bronx, New York. Elle a pour pseudonyme « J.Lo ». Elle a vendu 55 millions de disques et possède une fortune estimée en juillet 2009 à 110 millions $. Le 22 février 2008, Jennifer Lopez donne naissance à des jumeaux, un garçon et une fille qui se prénomment Maximiano et Emelina, dits "Max" et "Emme". Son père, David Lopez, est informaticien et sa mère, Guadalupe, puéricultrice; Ils sont tous deux porto-ricains. Jennifer a deux sœurs : Lynda (journaliste) et Leslie (professeur). Toute petite, dès l'âge de cinq ans, elle suit des cours de danse, tout en suivant un peu plus tard les très sévères cours d'école catholique du Bronx, d'abord la Holy Family School puis l'école secondaire (high school) Preston pour filles. « J'ai fréquenté pendant 12 ans des écoles catholiques. Tous les soirs, je priais Dieu pour qu'il m'aide à sortir de là. La religion était en fait mon seul recours. » Le sport lui réussit également (elle pratique le tennis et la gymnastique). Elle commence sa carrière d'actrice à l'âge de seize ans, elle fait ses débuts en tant que danseuse dans des spectacles musicaux, elle est remarquée par des agents lors d'une audition et tourne son premier film, en 1986, My little girl. Elle joue par la suite dans la série américaine Li...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 690 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Signed essays ranging from 500 to 2,500 words, written by subject experts and edited to form a consistent, readable, and straightforward reference. Entries include subject-specific bibliographies and textual cross-references to related essays. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Epoca, published by Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA) on January 28, 2001. The length of the article is 729 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Milenarismo diabólico: La bendición.(TT: Evil of the millennium: The blessing.)(Reseña)
Author: Pedro Crespo
Publication: Epoca (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 28, 2001
Publisher: Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA)
Page: 56

Article Type: Reseña

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It is 1947 and Israel Levis, a Cuban composer whose life had once been a dream of music, love and sadness, is returning to Habana, Cuba from Spain where he has just recovered from the physical and spiritual malaises resulting from his experiences in Paris -- then Buchenwald -- during the Nazi occupation of France. (A devout Catholic, Levis had been mistakenly identified as a Jew because of his name.)

Arriving back in Habana, Levis's mind is reeling with beautiful memories of his life before the war, a life of pleasure and excitement that he owes, in part, to an unrequited, nearly "chivalrous" romance with a certain Rita Valladares, a singer for whom Levis had written his most famous song, "Rosas Puras" or "Pretty Roses." This 1928 composition becomes the most famous rumba in the world; and it is the song, symbolic of the composer's love for Rita Valladares, that sets Levis' life in Europe in motion.

This is a love story -- for art, family and country -- as well as a portrait of Habana at the turn of the last century, when "the world was good." A Simple Habana Melody is a virtuoso performance from one of our most important writers.

Customer Reviews (18)

A Simple Habana Melody
It is a wonderful rare treat when an author keeps me anxiously, deliciously turning the pages.Page turners are usually associated with action or horror novels.What a treat to find such a wonderful lyrical tale.Now I must read "The Mambo Kings"Bravo, Mr. Hijuelos!

I've probably read it at least 3 times
I like this novel much more than any other done by the author.At times its sloppy, at times its slow and plodding.I tend to like these type of 'mistakes' by an author because it adds some dissonance to otherwise consonant writing.The main character is kind of cerebral, pitiful and lonely, but those are themes I understand and appreciate, so its okay.Actually, I kind of think of this novel as a re-write of Mambo Kings, it employs many of the same novelistic devices, especially, an artist's relationship to his or her own song lyrics or music.Its not a novel where I 'felt' for any of the characters, I've already outgrown that, I'm more interested in character development, plot development, themes and use of voice.One thing I'd like to ask the author is why his Cuban protagonists are always so ehm...well endowed, and why discuss so much what they do with it?Does size matter?

A Difficult Life in Havana
The "Simple Habana Melody" of the title of this book is a song and rumba called "Rosas Puras" (Pretty Roses) that the main character, a fictitous composer named Israel Levis, dashes off in 1928 in the space of about 20 minutes in a bar in the company of his friend and lyricist, Manny Cortez.The song was written for the love of Levis's life, a singer named Rita Valladares.The relationship between Levis and Valladares is at the heart of this story.Levis's song makes both him and Valladares famous.The song becomes ubiquitous and it does much to shape the remainder of the lives of both Levis and Valladares.

Throughout his novel, Hijuelos contrasts the simplicity and immediate attractiveness of Levis's song with the difficult character of Levis's life.
Born to a physician father, who is also an amateur musician and student of nature, Levis quickly shows prodigious gifts at the piano and an astonishing facility for composition, both popular tunes and more classical works such as concertos, operas and symphonies. Levis displays a large appetite for food, liquor, cigars, and paid sex together with his efforts as a composer. Much of his life is superficially sensual and lusty.

Yet there is much more to Israel Levis.For all his devotion to the senses, Levis is a devout Catholic. And the novel pivots perhaps too readily on his name, which, while Levis is living in Paris during the Nazi occupation, makes the Germans take him as Jewish and send him to Buchenwald where he barely survives his 14 month imprisonment. Levis is attached to his mother with whom he lives until his middle age.And Levis has difficulty with his own large sexuality.Throughout the book he appears to be attracted to men, but he remains unwilling to acknowledge this to himself.Beyond commercial sex, he has the greatest difficulty establishing a love relationship with a woman.DespiteRita Valladares's lifelong and obvious interest, Levis does not pursue the relationship beyond the level of friendship, rationalizing to himself that he is too old and too obese for Rita. Levis does establish a brief romantic and physical relationshipin Paris with a Jewish woman named Sarah Rubenstein which comes to an end with the Nazi occupation.

Hijuelos's book begins late in Levis's life, after he returns to Habana in 1947, a thin and broken man resulting from his internment in Buchenwald and a further year of recuperation in a hospital in Spain. The central portions of the book describe Levis's life during his apparently happier and fuller younger days, which are themselves marred by death of family members, repressive politics in Cuba, and, most importantly, by Levis's inability to have a sexual relationship with Rita.Upon his return to Habana, Levis is unable to compose or even play the piano.He has become skeptical of religion, although he does not lose his faith entirely. He seems a lost and lonely man who, as he tells Rita in a letter, is deeply afraid of dying alone.

Hijueleos shows Levis both as he lives his life during his active years and then reflecting upon his life when he returns to Habana in 1947 to gain a measure of redemption.Levis comes to see his life, in the title of the final chapter of the novel, as "The Loveliness of a Dream."Levis is able to recognize the failures and lost opportunities of his life, especially his relationship with Rita. But he comes to terms with himself and is able to embark on new important projects in his last years.He is able to come to a feeling of peace, while recognizing his disappointments.

Hijuelos's novel is filled with the love of music and with the sights and sounds of Hababa in the 1920's and 30s. His book also explores in a poignant way,the issues of religion and sexuality and self-knowledge that trouble his hero, Israel Levis. The book is a complex, many-voiced fugue beneath a deceptively simple melody.

Robin Friedman

Literary and elegant
Few American writers write with the elegance of Oscar Hijuelos, particularly in the realm of fiction.This book succeeds in capturing with originality and sensitivity a culture, a particular personality, and a historical period.The prose is elegant and the mood is elegaic.For some North American readers, the main character Israel Levis may seem a contrivance or an implausibility because of his preciosity; however, I believe that's because it is difficult to appreciate the truthfulness of his experience and perspective on life without understanding the particular 'wing' of Latino culture from which he arises.I'd recommend that one learns a bit about the culture of the Carribean, Cuban culture, Latin American culture, and for that matter European culture prior to reading the book.It will help one appreciate the world of the story and the world of the character.Not to do so would be tantamount to reading a book like Angela's Ashes and having no knowledge of the existence of Ireland or Irish history and culture.

contrived and flat
We read this novel for Book Club, and all agreed that it did not live up to the glowing reviews.The characters were flat and unbelievable, the plot contrived.It's not that the situation could not have happened, but rather that the author wrote it clumsily, so that it did not come across as believable.In fact the heavy and clumsy writing detracted considerably from enjoyment of the book.The "subtitles" and translations in parentheses were quite annoying.None of us felt that there was any literary quality to the novel; it seemed more that Hijuelos was coasting on his reputation.If you want to read it, try the library first--I wouldn't recommend spending money on it. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Semana, published by Spanish Publications, Inc. on August 4, 2000. The length of the article is 448 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: La hija del horror.(TT: Bless the child.)(Reseña)
Publication: Semana (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 4, 2000
Publisher: Spanish Publications, Inc.
Volume: 6Issue: 388Page: 21

Article Type: Reseña

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This digital document is an article from Semana, published by Spanish Publications, Inc. on March 31, 2000. The length of the article is 837 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Cine grande en la pantalla local: A calentar butacas.(TT: Great cinema in the local screen: to warm up armchairs.)(Reseña)
Author: Gustavo Lafarge
Publication: Semana (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 31, 2000
Publisher: Spanish Publications, Inc.
Volume: 6Issue: 370Page: 21

Article Type: Reseña

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Four hundred color photos, the basic techniques shown step by step, plenty of detailed diagrams and grids, advice from a top stylist, and exquisite projects: this is the knitter's ultimate guide. ... Read more