"What the United States does best is to understand itself. What it does worst is understand others." -- Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes Macías (born November 11, 1928) is a Mexican writer and one of the best-known living novelists and essayists in the Spanish-speaking world. He has influenced contemporary Latin American literature, and his works have been widely translated into English and other languages. Fuentes' generation of writers include Elena Poniatowska, José Emilio Pacheco and Carlos Monsiváis.
"I don't think any good book is based on factual experience. Bad books are about things the writer already knew before he wrote them.""Perfect order is the forerunner of perfect horror."
Fuentes was born in Mexico City, Mexico, to Mexican parents. His father was a diplomat, and he spent his childhood in various capital cities in the Americas: Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, Washington, Santiago, Quito, and Buenos Aires. As an adolescent he returned to Mexico, where he lived until 1965. He was married to film star Rita Macedo from 1959 till 1973, although he was an habitual philanderer and allegedly, his affairs - which he has claimed included film actresses such as Jeanne Moreau and Jean Seberg - brought her to despair. The couple ended their relationship amid scandal and Fuentes then married journalist and now famous interviewer Silvia Lemus. Following in the footsteps of his parents, he became a diplomat in 1965 and served in London, Paris (as ambassador), and other capitals. In 1978 he resigned as ambassador to France in protest over the appointment of Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, former president of Mexico, as ambassador to Spain. He has also taught courses at Brown, Princeton, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Cambridge, and George Mason University. He is currently teaching at Brown University. He was also a friend of the US sociologist C. Wright Mills, to whom he dedicated his book The Death of Artemio Cruz.
He fathered three children. Only one of them survived: Cecilia Fuentes Macedo, born in 1962, now working in television production. A son, Carlos Fuentes Lemus, died from complications associated with hemophilia in 1999 at the age of 25. A daughter, Natasha Fuentes Lemus (born 31 August 1974), died of an apparent drug overdose in Mexico City 22 August 2005, at the age of 30.
When he was 30 years old Fuentes published his first novel, La región más transparente, which became a classic contemporary novel. It was innovative not only for its prose, but also by having a metropolis, Mexico City as its main character. This novel provides insight into Mexican culture, which is made up of a mixture with the Spanish, the indigenous and the mestizo, all cohabiting in the same geographical area but with different cultures.
The author describes himself as a pre-modern writer, using only pens, ink and paper. He asks "Do words need anything else?" Fuentes mentioned that he detests those authors who from the beginning claim to have a recipe for success. In a speech on his writing process he mentioned that when he starts the writing process he begins by asking "Who am I writing for? "
He published Las Buenas Conciencias in 1959. This is probably his most accessible novel depicting the privileged middle classes of a medium-sized town, probably modelled on Guanajuato.
His 1960s novels, Aura (1962) and La muerte de Artemio Cruz (1962) are acclaimed for using experimental modern narrative styles (including the second person form) to discuss history, society and identity.
In 1967, during a meeting with Alejo Carpentier, Julio Cortázar and Miguel Otero Silva, Carlos Fuentes launched the project of a series of biographies depicting Latin American caudillos, which would be called Los Padres de la Patria. Although the project was never completed, it provided the base for Alejo Carpentier's Reasons of State (El recurso del método, 1974) and various other Dictator Novels (novelas del dictador).
His 1985 novel Gringo viejo, the first United States bestseller written by a Mexican author, was filmed as Old Gringo (1989) starring Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda.
In 1994, he published Diana, The Goddess Who Hunts Alone, a fictionalized account of his alleged affair with Jean Seberg. However, the authenticity of this adulterous liaison has been questioned several times.
Fuentes regularly contributes essays on politics and culture to the Spanish newspaper El País and the Mexican Reforma. He is a canny observer of Mexico-US relations and critic of the United States' policies in Latin America.
Magic Lens. The Transformation of the Visual Arts in the Narrative World of Carlos Fuentes. Lanin A Gyurko (New Orleans: University Press of the South, 2010).
The Shattered Screen. Myth and Demythification in the Art of Carlos Fuentes and Billy Wilder. Lanin A Gyurko (New Orleans: University Press of the South, 2009).
Lifting the obsidian mask : the artistic vision of Carlos Fuentes. Lanin A Gyurko, 2007
Mexican Writers on Writing. Margaret Sayers Peden (Trinity University Press, 2007).
Carlos Fuentes' The death of Artemio Cruz (Modern Critical Interpretations). Harold Bloom, 2006
Fuentes, Terra nostra, and the reconfiguration of Latin American culture. Michael Abeyta, 2006
Carlos Fuentes's Terra nostra and the Kabbalah: the recreation of the Hispanic world. Sheldon Penn, 2003
The narrative of Carlos Fuentes : family, text, nation. Steven Boldy, 2002
Carlos Fuentes, Mexico and modernity. Van Delden, Maarten, 1998
The postmodern Fuentes. Helmuth, Chalene, 1997
Specular narratives : critical perspectives on Carlos Fuentes, Juan Goytisolo, Mario Vargas Llosa. Roy Boland, 1997
The writings of Carlos Fuentes. Williams, Raymond L, 1996
A Marxist reading of Fuentes, Vargas Llosa, and Puig. Durán, Víctor M, 1994
Author, text, and reader in the novels of Carlos Fuentes. Ibsen, Kristine, 1993
Carlos Fuentes : life, work, and criticism. González, Alfonso, 1987
Carlos Fuentes. Faris, Wendy B, 1983
Carlos Fuentes, a critical view. Brody, Robert, 1982
The archetypes of Carlos Fuentes: from witch to androgyne. Durán, Gloria, 1980
Carlos Fuentes (Twayne World Authors Series). Guzmán, Daniel de, 1972
Spanish
El mito en la obra narrativa de Carlos Fuentes, Francisco Javier Ordiz, 2005
Los signos del laberinto : Terra nostra de Carlos Fuentes, Carmen V Vidaurre Arenas, 2004
Países de la memoria y el deseo : Jorge Luis Borges y Carlos Fuentes, Carmen Perilli, 2004
Carlos Fuentes : perspectivas críticas, Edith Negrín, 2002
Carlos Fuentes desde la crítica, Georgina García-Gutiérrez, 2001
El lenguaje que somos : Carlos Fuentes y el pensamiento de lo hispanoamericano, Estela Marta Saint-André, 2001
Los escritos de Carlos Fuentes, Raymond L Williams, 1998
Carlos Fuentes : 40 años de escritor, José Francisco Conde, 1993
Interpretaciones a la obra de Carlos Fuentes, Ana Maria Hernández de López, 1990
Fabulación de la fe : Carlos Fuentes, Fernando García Núñez, 1989
La obra de Carlos Fuentes : una visión múltiple, Ana María Hernández de López, 1988
Lo fantástico en los relatos de Carlos Fuentes : aproximación teórica, Gladys Feijoo, 1985
El cuento mexicano contemporáneo : Rulfo, Arreola y Fuentes, Bertie Acker, 1984
La narrativa de Carlos Fuentes, Aida Elsa Ramírez Mattei, 1983
Los disfraces : la obra mestiza de Carlos Fuentes, Georgina García-Gutiérrez, 1981
Nostalgia del futuro en la obra de Carlos Fuentes, Liliana Befumo Boschi, 1974
Aproximación a la literatura del mexicano Carlos Fuentes, Luján Carranza, 1974
Carlos Fuentes y la realidad de México, Fidel Ortega Martínez, 1969
