Where the Air Is Clear

Carlos Fuentes (1928-2012) was one of the most influential and celebrated voices in Latin American literature. He was the author of 24 novels, including "Aura", "The Death of Artemio Cruz", "The Old Gringo" and "Terra Nostra", and also wrote numerous plays, short stories, and essays. He received the 1987 Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's highest literary honor. Fuentes was born in Panama City, the son of Mexican parents, and moved to Mexico as a teenager. He served as an ambassador to England and France, and taught at universities including Harvard, Princeton, Brown and Columbia. He died in Mexico City in 2012. Padilla was born in Mexico City, and is the author of several award-winning novels and short-story collections.

"This is the most ambitious and skillful novel to come out of Mexico in a long time, and, at all odds, the most 'modern.' It's the most readable too." --New York Times