CARLOS FUENTES is the author of more than twenty books, including The Death of Artemio Cruz, Aura, The Old Gringo, and The Years with Laura Diaz. He served as Mexico’s ambassador to France from 1975 to 1977. He has received many awards and honors, including the Romulo Gallegos Prize, the National Prize in Literature (Mexico’s highest literary award), the Cervantes Prize, and the inaugural Latin Civilization Award. He has also been the recipient of France’s Legion of Honor Medal, Italy’s Grinzane Cavour Award, Spain’s Prince of Asturias Award, and Brazil’s Order of the Southern Cross. His work has appeared in The Nation, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, and The Washington Post Book World. He currently divides his time between Mexico City and London.
Advance praise for This I Believe
“In This I Believe, Carlos Fuentes brilliantly explores an alphabet
of the human condition, from A to Z, from art to politics, from
love to death. This is a dazzling book by a truly civilized
man.”
–Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
“Erudite, charming, witty, and often moving, this book has a bit of
everything and something for everyone.”
–Hugh Thomas, author of Rivers of Gold
Advance Praise from the UK for This I Believe
“[A] passionate engagement with literature and art . . . This I
Believe gathers his recent reflections on literature, history and
politics, as well as some more intimate explorations of his own
private experience. These writings . . . draw together many of the
themes and concerns of a rich and vibrant literary life.”
–The Herald
“Stimulating . . . [Fuentes] gives us a personal alphabet of the
authors he admires . . . the politics he espouses . . . plus a few
of the aesthetic and philosophical truths he has picked up. . . .
Magnificent.”
–The Daily Telegraph
“A characteristically dazzling display of Fuentes’ erudition and of
a remarkable life, divided between politics and literature,
seasoned by success on several continents, and marred by personal
tragedy. . . . Rich and imaginative . . . [with] flashes of
[Fuentes’] soul.”
–Financial Times
"I hope that the reader of this book will discover the various kinds of love... contained in each chapter of my personal alphabet," acclaimed Mexican novelist Fuentes (The Old Gringo; Inez; etc.) declares in this lovingly crafted abecedary of his life. In his characteristically luminous prose, Fuentes traces the power of love to transform and to endure through his relationships with his children, his writing, his favorite writers and film directors, and his encounters with the devastation and hope of revolution. Meditations of several pages each range over topics from globalization and revolution to Balzac, sex and God. In a profound exploration of the novel, Fuentes writes that while it may criticize the world, it must not be dogmatic: "Politics can be dogmatic. The novel can only be enigmatic." Writing of cinema, Fuentes offers a paean to beauty as reflected in the faces of film's leading actresses: "[W]hat would our... lives be without the beauty, illusion, and passion granted us by the faces of Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich, Louise Brooks and Audrey Hepburn, Gene Tierney and Ava Gardner?" Meditating on the ecstasies of sex, he declares that the end of a sexual relationship was the time when sex could be transformed into literature. "A body of words crying out for the closeness of another body of words." Elegant and lyrical (and beautifully translated), Fuentes's lush memoir guides us on an exhilarating journey through his lifeAand into the world at large. Agent, Brandt & Hochman. (On sale Feb. 1) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Advance praise for This I Believe
"In This I Believe, Carlos Fuentes brilliantly explores an alphabet
of the human condition, from A to Z, from art to politics, from
love to death. This is a dazzling book by a truly civilized
man."
-Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
"Erudite, charming, witty, and often moving, this book has a bit of
everything and something for everyone."
-Hugh Thomas, author of Rivers of Gold
Advance Praise from the UK for This I Believe
"[A] passionate engagement with literature and art . . . This I
Believe gathers his recent reflections on literature, history and
politics, as well as some more intimate explorations of his own
private experience. These writings . . . draw together many of the
themes and concerns of a rich and vibrant literary life."
-The Herald
"Stimulating . . . [Fuentes] gives us a personal alphabet of the
authors he admires . . . the politics he espouses . . . plus a few
of the aesthetic and philosophical truths he has picked up. . . .
Magnificent."
-The Daily Telegraph
"A characteristically dazzling display of Fuentes' erudition and of
a remarkable life, divided between politics and literature,
seasoned by success on several continents, and marred by personal
tragedy. . . . Rich and imaginative . . . [with] flashes of
[Fuentes'] soul."
-Financial Times
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