The motivation for this book arose from reading Julio Cortázar's Libro de Manuel and noticing a remarkable lack of criticism on that novel. It became clear that it was a book that critics remained reluctant to analyse in detail. In general, the novel is seen as exemplifying the ‘politicised’ Cortázar, the implication being that the politicisation process resulted in a deterioration of literary quality. This corresponds to the broader critical interpretative trend, whereby critics seem to accept unquestioningly Cortázar's own understanding that his first trip to revolutionary Cuba divided his personal life into a drastic before and after, into an apolitical Cortázar versus Cortázar the staunch socialist. Accordingly, the dominant critical tendency also sees that this event marked a watershed between the author's so-called ‘apolitical’ writings and those which express a given political conviction. In this sense, Libro de Manuel is categorised as

Cortázar's ‘political novel’, emerging as the logical result of his conversion to socialism and the politicisation of his literature. This is a view that is prevalent to this day, with writers such as Enrique Guinsberg recently affirming that: