<P> <i>Where the Air Is Clear</i>, Carlos Fuentes's first novel, is an unsparing portrayal of Mexico City's upper class. Departing from a traditional linear narrative, Fuentes overlays Mexican myths onto contemporary settings, showing that even the rich and powerful must succumb to the indomitable spirit of Mexico, which undermines all institutions and shapes all destinies. First published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1988, Dalkey Archive Press in 2004, now available again.</P>