ALL NIGHT MOVIE

Virtually unreadable fantasy by Argentine novelist Borinsky (Dreams of the Seducer, 1998, etc.).

Probably set in Argentina, it seems to be trying to describe the adventures and travails of someone named Felipa or Raquel, a prostitute who services her clients in a telephone booth and may have (along with her friend Rosa) started a cult known as the Girls of the Eva Cult. We’re not really told much about the Eva Cult, though it seems to figure prominently in many of the (extremely short) chapters. There is also a crusading journalist named Fran Camufa, who writes columns about a young woman named Miss Noemi, also known (she’s got other names) as the Scarred Girl. Noemi is hiding out with a Dr. Gutierrez and seems to have become a political issue in her own right, since Fran Camufa often reports on the reactions of various cabinet ministers to the tales of Noemi’s sufferings and the rumors of her whereabouts. Meanwhile, Estela del Carpio (also known as Bochita) has changed her name to Juana (in honor of her dead father Juan) and has moved back with her mother, whom she blames for her father’s death. Eventually, Juana kills Pascual Fracci and becomes the center of a sensational murder trial. She’s found not guilty by reason of insanity and released to enjoy her newfound fame (which results in a very lucrative film deal). While she was in jail, Juana was visited by Sister Analia, who may or may not be a nun.

With so little coherence, plot, or simple intelligibility here, the fault can’t be one of translation. Beware: a sequel follows.