Kiss of the Spider Woman (novel)

Kiss of the Spider Woman

First edition cover
Author	Manuel Puig
Original title	El beso de la mujer araña
Cover artist	Maxfield Parrish, Ecstacy - 1929
Language	Spanish
Genre	Novel
Publisher	Seix Barral
Publication date	1976
Publication place	Argentina
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)

Kiss of the Spider Woman (Spanish: El beso de la mujer araña) is a 1976 novel by Argentine writer Manuel Puig. It depicts the daily conversations between two cellmates in an Argentine prison, Molina and Valentín, and the intimate bond they form in the process. It is generally considered Puig's most successful work.^[1]

The novel's form is unusual in that there is no traditional narrative voice. It is written in large part as dialogue, without any indication of who is speaking, except for a dash (-) to show a change of speaker. There are also significant portions of stream-of-consciousness writing. What is not written as dialogue or stream-of-consciousness is written as meta-fictional government documentation. The conversations between the characters, when not focused on the moment at hand, are recountings of films that Molina has seen, which act as a form of escape from their environment. Thus there are a main plot, several subplots, and five additional stories that comprise the novel.

Puig adapted the novel into a stage play in 1983, with an English translation by Allan Baker. It was also made into an Academy Award-winning film in 1985, a Broadway musical in 1993 and a 2020 television special episode of Katy Keene.^[2] A film adaptation of the Broadway musical is currently in production.^[3]