Carlos Fuentes

"Like all of Latin America, Mexico after independence in 1821 turned its back on a triple heritage: on the Spanish heritage, because we were newly liberated colonies, and on our Indian and black heritages, because we considered them backward and barbaric. We looked towards France, England and the U.S., to become progressive democratic republics."

"I am not interested in slice of life, what I want is a slice of the imagination."

"Alessandra approached the geniuses of the past to give them life with her attention, which was the form her affection took: paying attention."

"The novel is the privileged vehicle of two ways of being: narrative and freedom: to be new (novel) in a speech open to all, and to be free in a speech that never concludes."