Does an instruction manual come with the purchase of a Kindle Fire?

A physical manual is not included with the Kindle Fire. The fire comes with a quick start guide and on-screen instructions for setting up and using the tablet.

The Fire's user guide is built in to the Kindle Fire. To access it, swipe from the top to bottom of the screen. When the menu appears, select "Help" then "User Guide." The Amazon website also gives instructions for accessing the user guides for the various generations of the Kindle Fire under its "Help & Customer Service" section. In addition to giving instructions for accessing user guides, this area also features the quick start guides for the more recent models of the Kindle Fire.