The Old Gringo

Fuentes, Carlos, The Old Gringo, New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1985.

The Old Gringo is a novel by Carlos Fuentes, written from 1964 to 1984 and first published in 1985. Fuentes stated: "What started this novel was my admiration for Ambrose Bierce and for his Tales of Soldiers and Civilians. I was fascinated with the idea of a man who fought in the United States Civil War and dies in a Mexican civil war."[1] The novel addresses themes of death, cultural exchange, and Mexican identity, among others. Its English-language translation became the first novel by a Mexican author to become a U.S. bestseller.[2] The book was one of three nominees for the Ritz Paris Hemingway Award as best novel of 1985.[3]