A close correlation often exists between fiction writers' work and their personal lives, but rarely is that correlation as close as it was for Manuel Puig, the late Argentine writer. Puig was the author, most notably, of the novel Kiss of the Spider Woman (1979), which was made into a successful movie and Broadway musical. It was particularly appropriate that Puig's work should find its way to the silver screen since movies were his obsession. Born and raised in a small provincial town in Argentina, Puig connected with the outside world through film. Eventually, though, he sought a wider world, finding it first in Buenos Aires and later abroad. Levine, who translated Puig's novels into English, knew the man personally and brings great psychological depth to her portrait, especially in her treatment of his novels and the role of the cinema in both his life and work. Brad Hooper
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Review
"This excellent biography is not only Levine's best work but also Puig's lasting triumph."—G. Cabrera Infante, Los Angeles Times
"Puig was a man of the movies, or perhaps of visual images and fantasy, who found himself shipwrecked in literature almost by default."—Mario Vargas Llosa, New York Times Book Review
"A splendid job of delineating Puig’s cultural influences—from novelist Julian Green to Freud and Hitchcock—and his political revulsion against Hitler and Juan Perón."—Publishers Weekly
From the Back Cover
"A splendid job of delineating Puig's cultural influences-from novelist Julian Green to Freud and Hitchcock-and his political revulsion against Hitler and Juan Perón." -Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Suzanne Jill Levine is a professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara and a noted translator of contemporary Latin American literature. She is the author of three books, including The Subversive Scribe.
