After a while, all the reminiscing about sexual escapades got old. I don't think it was out of character for an old, macho guy to spend a lot of energy thinking about the times he went down on a woman and what kind of food it smelled like, but if that doesn't interest you as a topic then I recommend finding something else to read.

I give it a 2 instead of a 1 because of the style of writing. I really liked all of the descriptions of life in Cuba and New York, the music, food, everything. He does a great job of recreating the atmosphere. My umbrage with the book is that, despite the compelling stories of many of the characters, it's hard to empathize with them. The repetitiveness compounded the problem.