Which Argentine author wrote the novel 'Betrayed by Rita Hayworth'?

The Argentine author who wrote the novel “Betrayed by Rita Hayworth” was Manuel Puig. Published in 1968 under its Spanish title, “La traición de Rita Hayworth,” it was Puig’s first novel and introduced many of the themes that shaped his later career.

The story is set in a small provincial town in Buenos Aires Province and centers on Toto, a boy whose emotional life is strongly influenced by Hollywood movies. Films such as “Blood and Sand” and “The Great Waltz” become imaginative models for relationships, romance, identity, and escape from the limitations of ordinary provincial life.

Puig’s style was innovative for its time. Instead of relying only on conventional narration, he used dialogue, interior monologue, letters, documents, and other forms of popular or everyday speech. His fascination with cinema and mass culture helped distinguish him from the more overtly experimental Boom novelists.

The book is sometimes confused with works by Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, or Adolfo Bioy Casares, all major Argentine writers. Puig belonged to a later post-Boom generation and later wrote “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” his best-known international success.