Is a graduate in Law and holds a Masters in Mexican Literature from the UNAM, as well as a doctorate in Spanish Philology from the University of Salamanca. He is currently the director of the Festival Internacional Cervantino and coordinator at UNAM. He is author of the novels
A pesar del oscuro silencio (Joaquín Mortiz, 1992; Planeta, 2000),
Días de ira, in
Tres bosquejos del mal (Siglo XXI, 1994; Muchnik Editores, 2000),
La paz de los sepulcros (Aldus, 1995; Seix Barral, 2007),
El temperamento melancólico (Nueva Imagen, 1996; Seix Barral, 2004),
Sanar tu piel amarga (Nueva Imagen, 1997; Algaida, 2004) and
El juego del Apocalipsis (DeBolsillo, 2000) and of the essays
La imaginación y el poder. Una historia intelectual de 1968 (Editorial Era, 1998) and
La guerra y las palabras. Una historia del alzamiento zapatista (Editorial Era in Mexico and Seix Barral in Spain, 2004). His latest novel is
Examen de mi padre (Penguin Random House, 2016).