《蜘蛛女之吻》是普伊格的第四部小說,這無疑是他的小說中影響最大的一部。在1976年發表後,幾次再版,被譯成多種文字,並改編成電影。
　　　　在阿根廷首都布宜諾斯艾利斯監獄的一間牢房裏關押着兩個囚犯,一個是政治犯瓦倫丁,另一個是同性戀者莫利納。小說以他們兩個人的對話為主綫索,逐步展現出他們的內心世界,撥動了埋藏在他們意識深處的心弦,從一個側面剖露了阿根廷社會的現實。作者以主人公敘述電影故事的方法,一方面揭示了力圖改變社會的革命者的復雜的內心世界,另一方面又從社會、心理和生理諸方面多層次地剖析了同性戀這個日益引起人們重視的社會問題。
　　　　對於同性戀的産生與存在,作者以嚴肅的態度進行了具體的分析。他采用新穎的表現手法,頗具匠心地將許多藝術技巧巧妙地糅合在一起,精心構築了小說的結構,一部部異彩紛呈的電影故事,與小說正文相互呼應的理論柱石,穿插在對話當中的意識流,還有簡潔明快的行書公文,讓人讀起來興味盎然,餘絲不斷,真可謂集嚴肅文學與通俗小說於一身,既有引人入勝的故事情節,又有對社會學和性心理學等問題的深刻探求, 還有耐人琢磨的文學魅力。這種將文學性、趣味性、社會性、科學性融合在一起的特點是這部小說取得成功的主要原因。
　　　　這部小說中運用得最為突出的手法就是在兩個人的對話中敘述電影故事。深諳電影藝術的普伊格巧妙地將六部電影的情節貫穿於整部小說的始末。這些電影故事的構思巧妙,安排得當。每部電影雖然都獨立成篇,卻有着共同的深邃的內涵,即從不同的角度隱喻同性戀的不同的表現方式及其心理特徵。作者采用蒙太奇的手法,將電影與電影,電影與兩個囚犯的現實生活剪切對比、明敘暗喻,像多棱鏡一般折射出一幅幅既有情趣又耐人思索的畫面。

　　Kiss of the Spider Woman (Spanish: El beso de la mujer araña) is a novel by the Argentine writer Manuel Puig. It is considered his most successful. The novel's form is unusual in that there is no traditional narrative voice, one of the primary features of fiction. 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 parts of stream of consciousness. What is not written as dialogue or stream of consciousness is written as metafictional government documentation. The conversations that the characters engage in, when not focused on the moment at hand are focused on films that Molina has seen, which act as a form of escape from their environment. Thus we have a main plot, all of the subplots that are involved in that, and four additional mini stories that comprise the novel. The author includes a long series of footnotes on the psychoanalytic theory of homosexuality. These act largely as a mini representation of Puig's political intention in bringing an objective opinion of homosexuality. The footnotes end up including both factual information with that of the fictional Anelli Taub. The footnotes tend to appear at points of the greatest misunderstanding between both Molina and Valentin.
　　
　　The novel can be read as an indictment of a disengaged aesthetic perspective in the context of a world where people have to take sides. Valentin, the Marxist protagonist, has risked his life and willingly endured torture for a political cause and his example helps transform his cell-mate into a citizen, someone who will enter the world. Likewise, the other protagonist, Molina's love of aesthetics and cultural life teaches Valentin that escapism can have a powerfully utopian purpose in life; escapism has the potential to be just as subversive and meaningful as actual political activity.
　　
　　The novel was adapted into a stage play by Puig in 1983 (English translation by Allan Baker). It was also made into a film (1985) and a Broadway musical (1993).