Betrayed by Rita Hayworth

Manuel Puig · 1932–1990 · Argentina

Originally La traición de Rita Hayworth (Spanish) · translated by Suzanne Jill Levine

Why it matters

A boy's provincial Argentine childhood is narrated entirely through overheard dialogue, letters, and the Hollywood films that shape his imagination. Puig's debut announced his lifelong fascination with pop culture as the texture of ordinary consciousness.

At a glance

Narrated entirely through overheard dialogue and fragments, with no conventional narrator.