One of the great historical novels of the Latin American literary “Boom,” Noticas del Imperio, was penned by the Mexican novelist Fernando del Paso, who also wrote Jose Trigo and Palinuro de México. But it is Noticas for which he is best known—the story of the short-lived empire of the Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, placed on the Mexican throne by the French. In it del Paso employs superb literary techniques to vividly re-create the historical period by interweaving various narrative types—letters, straightforward historical narrative, parody, and personal reflection. In this interview, del Paso discusses his writing techniques and the literary influences that contributed to their formation. (Spanish with English subtitles, 43 minutes)