please welcome carolyn curiel and oscar hijuelos, author of "thoughts without cigarettes". [applause] >> thank you. >> we are thrilled to be here today. those of you who know oscar hijuelos know him best from one of his novels which won a pulitzer prize, the first for latino writer. he has had many milestones since then, has written the most beautiful fiction and now has written about himself in a nonfiction way. oscar hijuelos, thrilled that you are here. why now? why a memoir now? >> there is a short answer and a long answer. the long answer is in my first novel which was called our house in the last world, i talked about the influence on my life when i was coming up and call our house in the last world, that came down to this. i went through some difficulty as a child. i was separated from my family for a year because of illness and i went through a period wed having been interest in the culture and language i found myself suddenly immersed in american culture and language. as my mother would say i went into the hospital speaking spanish and came out speaking english and