Che Handbook

The impossibly glamorous life of the beloved revolutionary martyr Che Guevara is extolled but not illuminated in this glitzy hagiography. The authors sketch the outlines of Guevara's tumultuous life--his youthful motorcycle journeys among Latin America's downtrodden masses, his rise as Fidel Castro's co-comandante, his incongruous stint as Cuba's Minister of Industry and Central Bank chief, his return to guerilla adventures in disastrous forays to the Congo and Bolivia (where he was executed)--but tell the story mostly through interviews with Guevara's comrades and snippets of his writings. The book is dominated by hundreds of photos of Guevara, usually in beret and fatigues, which ably convey the smoldering charisma--""he was very masculine, with beautiful eyes,"" pants one companera--that has made him the universal symbol of left-wing defiance on posters, T-shirts and murals throughout the world. Unfortunately, the book's devotional tone does little to establish Guevara as a serious political figure. Readers learn of his chess skills and his kindness to lepers, but next to nothing about the organization of the Cuban Revolution. Guevara's quixotic economic policies are largely glossed over with photos of him harvesting sugar cane to promote his scheme of replacing wages with""voluntary work"" and""moral incentives."" The excerpts of his own writings, which are studded with bad poetry (""In the mouth of the finale, you can hear valor fly"") and grand self-encomiums (""The only passion which guides me is for the truth""), betray nothing more reflective than an idealized faith in the people and an enthusiasm for armed struggle. Barrio and Jenkins leave the impression that Guevara was little more than the romantic adventurer depicted in his iconography. 250 b&w photos; 50 color illustrations.