Manuel Puig; ‘Kiss of Spider Woman’ Author

Argentine writer Manuel Puig, who gained international fame for his novel, “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” died of a heart attack Sunday. He was 57.

Puig, who was suffering complications from gall bladder surgery, had earned a reputation as a leading member of the younger generation of Latin American writers for his novels written in a cinematic, non-narrative style.

His works often explored the relationships between his characters’ impoverished lives and their rich, if unfulfilled, fantasies.

Puig wrote several books, and some were made into successful movies. Among his novels are “The Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “Betrayed by Rita Hayworth,” “Eternal Curse on the Reader of These Pages” and “Heartbreak Tango.”

In 1985 Brazilian filmmaker Hector Babenco released a film version of “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” The story is set in a bleak Argentine prison cell shared by a Marxist guerrilla, portrayed in the film by Raul Julia, and a homosexual, portrayed by William Hurt, who won an Academy Award. Their dialogue is interspersed with the homosexual’s recounting of plots of romantic movies.

Puig also wrote numerous plays and movie scripts.

He was born on Dec. 28, 1932, in the small town of General Villegas, on the arid pampas of Argentina.

After leaving the University of Buenos Aires, Puig sought to launch a career in the film industry and began to write screenplays.

With the return of Juan Peron to power in Argentina in 1973, Puig felt increasingly alienated from his country. He went into self-imposed exile, eventually settling in Mexico.

Puig’s play, “Mystery of the Rose Bouquet,” was recently produced in Los Angeles.

He is survived by his mother, Maria Elena de Puig, brother Carlos Puig, sons Javier, Labrada and Agustin Garcia Gil, all living in Cuernavaca, where his funeral was held Sunday night. He will be buried in a family plot in La Plata, Argentina, Labrada said.