Raúl Tola in conversation with Josefina Townsend

The weight of the air varies with altitude: the higher we climb, the less air there is above us, making it harder to breathe. Raúl Tola (Peru) turns this fact into a metaphor in his latest novel. El peso del aire is a novel about journalism, the gears of power and moral conscience; a story that paints a picture of a country adrift. In the midst of recording sets, clandestine meetings and election campaigns, an institutional rot that infects everything —even the family— is gradually revealed. In an atmosphere where ethics seem to be on permanent vacation, a group of journalists will try to preserve the integrity of the profession and cling to their convictions. Tola will discuss this novel, which portrays the fall of the first Fujimori regime with Josefina Townsend.