In the following review, Richard M. Reeve deconstructs the unusually expansive period author Carlos Fuentes took to compose and rework his panoramic novel La región más transparente and examines how Fuentes' detailed efforts allowed the book to retain its relevancy over several decades.

It is the practice of some authors, especially poets, to rework and polish their writings over a period of many years while continuing to make additions and corrections to future editions. Not so with Carlos Fuentes, who seems to produce a literary work and to leave it immediately in the hands of the reader and critic, while moving on to his next endeavor. Thus the case of the composition and reworking of La región más transparente over a period of a quarter of a century is an anomaly worthy of close examination. It is relatively easy...