Several of the short stories collected in Fuentes' first book, Los Dias Enmascarados (The Masked Days) of 1954, are direct antecedents to Where the Air Is Clear. Many of the stories in the 1954 work are accessible in English in Burnt Water (1980). These short stories introduce the theme of entrance by the ancient gods of the Aztec and Maya into contemporary society to protest material culture.

In what was dubbed the 'last novel of the Mexican revolution,' Fuentes intended to create a character who could embody Mexico. The Death of Artemio Cruz (1962) resulted from the effort. In this novel, Cruz lies on his deathbed as his legacy is created. Supposedly, Cruz was a good, ideal, and true revolutionary but in all honesty he was corrupt, a capitalist, and selfish. Considered Fuentes' finest novel, the work cynically views the aftermath of the Mexican revolutionary impulse.

The almost postmodern attempt at cultural synthesis, Fuentes' Zona sagrada (1967; translated as Holy Place) blends Aztec and Greek myth. Tlazolteotl, the Aztec goddess of carnal love and decay, meets Greek and Egyptian cultures for the first time.

Fuentes has authored a number of essays and historical works. Perhaps the most well-known of the latter category, Buried Mirror, accompanied a BBC documentary in 1990. The scope of the work covers all of Spanish-American history from cave drawings to current political wranglings but the illustrations are abundant. The theme of the work hinges on the idea that there exists a Hispanic culture and tradition of shared images and artistic works.

Octavio Paz had a tremendous impact on Fuentes' generation. For Fuentes' interests in the themes of national identity, Paz' 1950 work El Laberinto de la soledad (The Labyrinth of Solitude) was an invaluable touchstone. In this work, Paz explores the character of Mexico as an amalgam of politics, history, and myth. He also explored the tensions between the indigenous and the conquistadors; his social criticism earned him fame but also ill will from the rulers of Mexico.

The mysterious disappearance of famed American writer Ambrose Bierce in 1914, the time of revolution in Mexico, has been a subject of intrigue for Mexican and American audiences. Fuentes has postulated a marvelous explanation in his novel, Gringo Viejo (The Old Gringo).

The most recent novel by E. L. Doctorow accentuates the mythical status of New York City. In City of God: A Novel (2000), Doctorow shows the world an end-of-the-century portrait of the city that stops just short of magical realism. The theft of a crucifix and its discovery atop the Synagogue for Evolutionary Judaism and the subsequent loss of faith by the detective priest is just the beginning.

Raymond Leslie Williams, who has written numerous books and articles on literature, explains the evolution of attention on Latin American literature in The Modern Latin-American Novel (1998). Williams, along with a chronology of important literary works since 1945, provides an overview of who knew who, where "El Boom'' derived its inspiration and technique, and the positioning of important Latin American writers in terms of each other and their literary heritage.