Kiss of the Spider Woman (Manuel Puig)

Another library bargain bin book, one I picked up before the move to tide me over until I got my new library card (always step one behind gas and electric). It is an Argentinian book translated from the Spanish and written all in dialogue, which I found quite fun. Pure speech and no description can wind up sounding vapid and fluffy but Puig pulls it off quite well.

Kiss of the Spider Woman is the story of two men in prison--one a political prisoner of the socialist persuasion and the other a homosexual in for "corrupting a minor." They have a great chemistry to see on the page and much of the book centers on the gay man's retelling of different movies. A great discussion of the known formulas and effect of the cinema, in a way.

What killed me was the footnotes. Okay, I know it is an older edition but the publisher thought illustrating a gay character was so controversial that they footnoted the hell out of his dialog. And, the comments weren't even related to what the character said but were instead a scholarly essay on homosexuality--was it innate or environmental, how do all the major psychiatrists weigh in, what do recent studies suggest? I swear there was at least 20 pages of these footnotes in 9 pt font.

What the hell? I just wanted to hear him talk some more about films and see the tension between the two prisoners. Oh, and the sex scene was pretty fascinating as well. Gay sex, told all through dialogue. I'm sure you can imagine the one syllable exchanges taking place there. Very Brokeback. I think that one scene is probably why they thought they needed all the explanation about homosexuality. But, come on! I'm not going to hate the character just because he's gay! Then again, I live in today's world and an American world--not Puig's. Perhaps not the publisher's.

All in all, an entertaining read, intructive for the somewhat successful use of use dialogue and the--whoo hoo--hot sex. I liked kissing the Spider Woman. I don't know if we can ever be more than friends. I just don't like her that way. You know, that way. But she's a fun date.