Conteris, Hiber

New York. 1987. November 1987. Simon & Schuster. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket.Remainder Dot On Bottom Edge. 0671645897. Translated from the Spanish by Deborah Bergman. 221 pages. hardcover. Cover: Karen Katz. keywords: Literature Translated Uruguay Latin America Mystery. FROM THE PUBLISHER - TEN PERCENT OF LIFE brings Philip Marlowe-Raymond Chandler's legendary private eye-back to the Los Angeles of 1956 to investigate the alleged suicide of Chandler's literary agent. Marlowe probes the unspoken but heavy-handed influence of the big Hollywood studios of the McCarthy era. Soon Chandler himself becomes a murder suspect, and the dangers of protecting the defenseless from the powerful are laid out against a backdrop of glitzy boites, hushed seaside estates and glaring neon. Marlowe, freed from his creator, offers his opinions on everything from the ego and the id to forties is' Hiber Conteris' subtly political parable intrigues and delights. TEN PERCENT OF LIFE is an ingenious interplay between an author and his hard-boiled creation. With it, Conteris joins the ranks of classic South American authors such as Manuel Puig and Mario Vargas Llosa. HIBER CONTERIS, a noted Uruguayan writer and intellectual, was a political prisoner in Uruguay from 1976 to 1985. While he was in prison, Mr. Conteris wrote four novels, a book of short stories, and three plays. He was released from prison after the change of governments and came to the United States, where he is currently Visiting Professor of Hispano-American Literature at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. After his arrival, the governor of Wisconsin proclaimed May 14, 1985, Hiber Conteris Day. Mr. Conteris is an Honorary Member of P.E.N. and a recipient of the Letras de Oro Prize, among numerous other awards. Praise for the original Spanish edition of TEN PERCENT OF LIFE: ‘An amusing and ingenious novel which surely will excite lovers of thrillers everywhere; it is written with remarkable perfection' - Diario 16, Madrid. inventory #26726 ISBN: 0671645897.