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Book Salon
The Death of Artemio Cruz

  • This month we're reading The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes. Our faculty host is Zephyr Frank.

    Listen to an interview with our Book Salon host.

    "I chose this book because it has a great deal of meaning to me personally-- it was the first really great work of modern Latin American literature that I read as a student. I have used it in courses here at Stanford and each time I go back to teaching it I feel like I learn something new and gain new perspective on Mexican history and literature-- its just an inexhaustible source of interest."

    Zephyr Frank, associate professor of Latin American history and director of Stanford's Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis and Spatial History Project

How to Participate

Read the transcript to the audio interview

Participate in the online discussion and interact with Stanford alumni around the world!

About this quarter's book selection

Artemio Cruz is a dying man who lies on his deathbed, recalling the shaping events of his life, from the Mexican Revolution through the development of the Party of the Institutional Revolution. Over the course of his life he was a soldier, politician, land baron, and newspaper magnate, whose corruption and power affected the ones who were kept loyal through money and power. 

A haunting portrait of 20th century Mexico drawing a narrative parallel to the infamous film Citizen Kane, by Orson Welles. The Death of Artemio Cruz delivers a story filled with layers of memories, heroic campaigns, relentless drive from poverty to wealth, and a dawning realization of a failing body. Carlos Fuentes manipulates the ensuing kaleidoscope of images and illustrates a grim portrayal of modern Mexico. Read the novel that is widely considered a milestone in modern Latin American literature.

The Stanford Book Salon [Seriously Unstuffy]