Introduction


Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes is arguably Mexico’s most prolific and important author. He published his first novel, La Región Mas Transparente, when he was just 28 years old. The novel featured Mexico City and delved into Mexican culture. A self-described “premodern” writer who prefers paper and pen to a word processor, Fuentes experiments with various narrative styles and is known for his exploration of society, identity, and history. In 1967, he began writing a series of Latin American biographies that was never completed. American audiences know Fuentes best for his novel Gringo Viejo, which was made into the 1989 film Old Gringo starring Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda.

Essential Facts

  1. In 1965, Fuentes became a diplomat like his parents. At one point, he was ambassador to France, but he resigned in protest over another ambassador’s appointment.
  2. Fuentes’s 1994 novel Diana, The Goddess Who Hunts Alone fictionalized his affair with American actress Jean Seberg. There are many who doubt that he actually had an affair with her.
  3. Fuentes wrote for the Spanish newspapers El Pais and Reforma. He has also taught courses at several prestigious colleges including Brown, Harvard, and Princeton.
  4. Gringo Viejo has the distinction of being the first American best seller written by a Mexican author.
  5. Fuentes is also famous (or perhaps infamous) for his philandering. He was married to actress Rita Macedo for fourteen years, but his many affairs ruined their marriage.