Puig, Manuel

New York. 1972. June 1972. Dutton. 3rd Printing. Very Good in Slightly Worn Dustjacket. 0525066306. Translated from the Spanish by Suzanne Jill Levine. 223 pages. hardcover. Cover: Wendell Minor. keywords: Literature Latin America South America Argentina Translated. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Hailed as one of the most important young writers in Latin America today, Manuel Puig, in his widely praised first novel, re-creates with wry compassion the provincial world of a middle-class Argentine family. Through a series of dialogues and soliloquies, as real and sometimes mysterious as conversations overheard, the boy Toto, his relatives and neighbors, servants and schoolmates, spring unforgettably to life. For all of them the only escape from the dreariness of small-town living is the movies. They are all that give shape and color to their existence. Telling of their dreams and fears in language that may parody the clichEs of soap opera or the pseudo-literary style of a term paper, they speak of their marital troubles, of making ends meet, or getting girls, or finding a husband. Toto's cousin dreams of being a sports star, while a scholarship student hopes one day to eat North American pan queques (pancakes) - the status symbol of the day. Most of all, they dream of going to Buenos Aires, where the movies are even better. inventory #28170 ISBN: 0525066306.