Pubis Angelical tells the seemingly unacters: Ana, an Argentine woman confined to a hospital bed in Mexico in the 1970s and a nameless beautiful Viennese woman in the 1930s who becomes a Hollywood movie star. Their stories, although set in different locales and times, are parallel tales that reveal similar social concerns; these, reduced to their minimalist core, are in turn integrated into a set of futuristic, science fiction episodes introduced in the third part of the novel.

The paramount social concern of the novel is the problematic relationship between men and women. This is conveyed through the characters' fruitless yet relentless pursuit of the ideal male, the superior man who might satisfy a woman's complex set of needs. This position is slowly articulated by Ana from her hospital bed, as she reflects on her unsatisfying relationships with men and critiques her partners' imperfections.

Although at...