[Pubis Angelical] is a collage of the human, subhuman, and superhuman, through which characters pass without achieving full dimension. During the course of the book Puig manages to set before the reader all the dubious enrichments of the age: computers, robots, ESP, occult prophecies, assassinations, terrorism, espionage, drugs, prostitution, movie-making, munitions-making, and feminism versus the myth of male superiority. His people are a mixed lot, and most of them come to rather unpleasant ends.

Two interrelated stories could be said to represent exposition and resolution. One focuses on a mad scientist and his off spring, the other on an Argentine expatriate divorcée confined to a cancer ward in Mexico City. The cancer patient, Ana, survives her operation and is humbled by her cure to the point where she wishes to resume her relationship with her mother and daughter, on a more loving basis….

Despite its unearthly flummery...