signed-firsts
Kiss of the Spider Woman Signed First Edition Reference
El beso de la mujer araña (Seix Barral, 1976; English: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979, translated by Thomas Colchie) is Puig’s masterwork — a novel consisting almost entirely of dialogue between two prisoners sharing a cell in Buenos Aires: Molina, a gay window dresser imprisoned for corrupting a minor, and Valentín, a Marxist political prisoner. Molina tells Valentín the plots of his favorite movies, and the cell becomes a space where political commitment, sexual identity, and the power of stories intersect.
Signed Copy Market Values
- Signed English first (Knopf): $100–$250
- Unsigned English first: $15–$30
The Broadway musical (1993) and film (1985, William Hurt’s Oscar-winning performance) have given Kiss of the Spider Woman a crossover audience that extends well beyond literary fiction collecting.