Vlad the Impaler is undead and has need of both a lawyer and a real-estate agent in order to establish his new kingdom. Yves Navarro and his wife Asuncion fit the bill nicely. Having recently lost a son, might they not welcome the chance to see their remaining child live forever? More importantly, are the pleasures of middle-class life enough to keep one from joining the legions of the damned?

"Where the Air is Clear, Carlos Fuentes's first novel, opens with a metaphorical description of Mexico City and the challenges facing its inhabitants and quickly becomes an unsparing portrayal of the upper class. Departing from a traditional linear narrative, Fuentes constructs his novel around a series of encounters with members of this world, including Federico Robles, an ambitious self-made millionaire; Rodrigo Pola, a writer whose father was executed...