Eternal Curse on the Reader of These Pages
In his first novel in English, Manuel Puig strikes a balance between irony and sympathy as he tells of the relationship of Larry, a down-and-out writer, who is paid to push a wheelchair-bound Argentine political exile, Ramirez, around Greenwich Village. Through their journeys and their conversations about sex and politics, we witness the collision of two “solitary fantasy systems,” revealing the men to be enmeshed in the lies that make up their bitter, shadowy symbiosis.
Readers should jump at the chance to own this reprint of Puig’s first novel in English.
Minnesota Monthly
In his first novel in English, Manuel Puig strikes a balance between irony and sympathy as he tells of the dealings of two men whose deceptive reminiscences recall those of the characters in his better-known Kiss of the Spider Woman. Larry, a down-and-out writer, is paid to push a wheelchair-bound Argentine political exile, Ramirez, around Greenwich Village. Through their journeys and their conversations about sex and politics, we witness the collision of two “solitary fantasy systems,” revealing the men to be enmeshed in the lies that make up their bitter, shadowy symbiosis.
Readers should jump at the chance to own this reprint of Puig’s first novel in English.
Minnesota Monthly
From its sinister-sounding title onwards, Eternal Curse on the Reader of These Pages is a stylistic tour de force. Except for five letters, a will, and a job application, which serve as a documentary denouement, the entire novel is a dialogue between an amnesiac and a dropout. Puig spins a fascinating web of words, capturing the reader’s attention with his uncanny ability to develop plot and character solely through dialogue.
New York Times Book Review
Brilliant.
Newsweek
Puig is a writer of luminous talents. It is his mastery of plot, counterplot, the characters’ scheming, his own, that lifts Puig into the circle of Borges and Márquez.
Washington Post Book World
