The Lizard's Tail

The Lizard's Tail is a whip much favoured by Latin American torturers. It gives its name to this fictional biography of Lopez Rega, Isabel Peron's minister of social well-being who ruled Argentina through sorcery and witchcraft. A figure of immense power and cruelty, Lopez Rega survives all attempts by politicians and the military to overthrow him. So great is the magic of this power-crazed witch-doctor that the writer / narrator can destroy him only by removing herself: 'By erasing myself from the map, I intend to erase you. Without my biography, it will be as if you never had a life. So long, Sorcerer, felice morte.' In The Lizard's Tail, Luisa Valenzuela re-invents language to convey the political reality of Latin America. A reality in which the writer hangs in the balance.

• Author
• Luisa Valenzuela, Gregory Rabassa

• Format
• paperback

• Pages
• 288

• Publisher
• Serpent's Tail

• Language
• english

• ISBN
• 9781852421120

• Genres
• fiction

• Release date
• 1987