[1] The novel follows a young man, Macunaíma, "a hero without any character," born in the Brazilian jungle and possessing strange and remarkable abilities—mostly shapeshifting—, as he travels to São Paulo and back again.

The novel employs a composite structure using elements of what would later be called magic realism and a number of dialects of both interior Brazil and São Paulo.

This is an example of Andrade using a fused language to write this text, which begins with a simple description: "In the depths of the virgin jungle was born Macunaíma, hero of our people.

Most of the folklore contained within the text is taken directly from native stories; Lucia Sá has shown that Andrade's novel draws heavily on the narratives of the Pemon people that were collected and recorded by Theodor Koch-Grünberg.

He encounter various different creatures from Brazilian mythology along the way, taking him on a quest to retrieve his stolen amulet, a muiraquitã, who was given to him from his love interest, Ci.

His adventures in the city highlights social critique, exploring class differences, racial issues, and the cultural clash between urban and rural, using satire and folklore.

Pedro de Andrade simplified the magical elements of the book in order to relate to Brazil's social, economic, and political state.

Additionally, the story takes place in Rio de Janeiro rather than São Paulo, and is set at more or less the time the film was made.