Which Argentine author wrote 'Kiss of the Spider Woman'?

Manuel Puig wrote the Argentine novel *Kiss of the Spider Woman*.

Published in Spanish as *El beso de la mujer araña* in 1976, the novel centers on two cellmates in an Argentine prison: Luis Molina, a film enthusiast, and Valentín Arregui, a political prisoner. Their conversations about movies, politics, sexuality, and personal memory gradually create an intimate bond despite their sharply different identities and beliefs.

Puig uses an experimental form that includes dialogue, film plots, footnotes, psychological material, and shifting perspectives. This structure lets the novel explore how popular culture shapes people’s ideas about love, gender, heroism, and sacrifice. It also challenges conventional assumptions about homosexuality and political commitment.

The novel became Puig’s best-known work. Thomas Colchie’s English translation appeared in 1979, followed by a 1985 film directed by Héctor Babenco and a successful Broadway musical in 1993. A common mix-up is attributing the work to the film’s director or actors; Puig is the author of the original novel.