Valenzuela, Luisa

New York. 1983. September 1983. Farrar Straus Giroux. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket W/A Small Dent On The Spine. 0374189943. Translated from the Spanish by Gregory Rabassa. 280 pages. hardcover. Photograph (c) 1983 by Jerry Hazier. Jacket design (c) 1983 by Tom Christopher. keywords: Literature Translated Argentina Latin America Women. FROM THE PUBLISHER - THE LIZARD'S TAIL (the title is derived from the name of an ancient South American whip) is a novel about power, about politics, and about magic. It is based on a real story - the career of Lopez Rega, Isabel Perdn's Minister of Social Well-Being, who, for all intents and purposes, ruled Argentina literally through sorcery. Luisa Valenzuela has written a kind of imaginary biography of this figure, called the Sorcerer or witchdoc throughout The Lizard's Tail, a biography whose subject is often the narrator. The Sorcerer is born with a curious physical particularity: he has three testicles. For him the third ball is not just an appendage but is in fact his sister, Estrella. The novel is the chronicle of the Sorcerer's past, his rise to power, his overthrow by the military, and his plot (the culmination of the book) to return to power. The Sorcerer believes that he and his sister will conceive a son, who will in turn rule. This story is entwined in Valenzuela's narrative with piercingly accurate portraits of other Argentines - of the generals and Peronists, farmers and urban radicals who figure prominently in the book. Luisa Valenzuela, one of the leading writers in Latin America today, has redefined the possibilities of the political novel, blending the fantastic and the real with authority and lucidity. inventory #2767 ISBN: 0374189943.