Ciudad Guzmán is a city in the Mexican state of Jalisco. It is located 124 kilometres (77 mi) south of Guadalajara, at a height of 1,507 metres (4,944 ft) above sea level. Its population totaled 97,750 in the 2010 census, ranking as the eighth-largest city in the state.

Juan José Arreola Zúñiga was a Mexican writer, academic, and actor. He is considered Mexico's premier experimental short story writer of the 20th century. Arreola is recognized as one of the first Latin American writers to abandon realism; he used elements of fantasy to underscore existentialist and absurdist ideas in his work. Although he is little known outside Mexico, Arreola has served as the literary inspiration for a legion of Mexican writers who have sought to transform their country's realistic literary tradition by introducing elements of magical realism, satire, and allegory. Alongside Jorge Luis Borges, he is considered one of the masters of the hybrid subgenre of the essay-story. Arreola is primarily known for his short stories and he only published one novel, La feria.