Heartbreak Tango recounts the life and loves of Juan Carlos, a small-town Argentinian bureaucrat, as he slowly dies of tuberculosis. Good-looking, well-mannered Juan Carlos is the apple of his mother's eye and a prize jealously guarded by his sister Celina. He alternately pursues Nene, a local shop girl tainted by scandal, and Mabel, a teacher from a wealthy local family. His romantic pursuits, along with late-night visits to local widow and evenings out with his carousing card-playing friends, ultimately drive him to exhaustion.

On the surface, this story is a typical tale of romantic entanglement. Puig, best known for [The Kiss of the Spider Woman], reframes the story as a series of excerpts from letters, diaries and newspaper clippings and plays with the chronology. The story begins with Nene's letters to Juan Carlos' mother following his death and travels backward and forward in time, alternately bringing the characters closer together and driving them further apart. All of the women idealize Juan Carlos and pity his tragic demise, all the while failing to see the ongoing tragedies that have left them heartbroken and alone. Billed as a novel in a series of installments, reminiscent of a 1940s serial romance, the novel has flashes of wit and at times draws the reader into the puzzle of piecing together Juan Carlos' love life. An enjoyable read in a somewhat experimental form, but not groundbreaking in any way. ( )

A novel about life in a small town on the Argentine pampas during the 1930s, filled with intrigue, prejudice, sexual treachery and betrayal. This was translated into English as "Heartbreak Tango." ( )