Cortázar's intention [in A Manual for Manuel is] to provide the reader with an understanding of the "apparently" confused and undeniably complex state of contemporary world affairs and, especially, the conflicts of Western society. To achieve this, he characterizes a group of revolutionary Frenchmen and Latin Americans in Paris fighting the oppression of bourgeois capitalist governments, including such destructive organizations as the CIA. The struggle, however, encompasses far more than politics; it is a quest for the total liberation of Man from the egotism, fears, and taboos brought about by a derailed historical course….

Cortázar is very conscious of his literary technique. Capturing the reader's interest from the beginning, he makes him undergo the confusion and torment experienced by the protagonist. At the same time, Cortázar provides the reader with moments of joy, eroticism, and sheer humorous absurdity in the lives of his characters—all...