Shorts

October 31, 2005
Ten years ago Fuguet burst onto the Latin American scene with a coming-of-age novel called Mal Onda, published in the U.S. as Bad Vibes (1997). He and like-minded confreres formed a literary movement called McOndo, another cheeky rip on Macondo, the imaginary kingdom of Garcia Marquez, and declared themselves resolutely anti-magical realism. (In an interview Fuguet snarls, "My grandmother doesn't fly. Does yours?") The initial shock of McOndo has passed, and Fuguet matured gracefully over his next few novels, including Movies of My Life, published here last year. In this series of shorts, his characters are still largely "rich little kids from poor countries," roaming the U.S.A. on trust funds while seeking the grail of North American movie culture. The book is uneven, but the best of their tales are terrific. Listing the premises-e.g., in "Truth or Consequences," a young Chilean embezzles funds from a family firm and flees to the American Southwest on a booze-filled journey of self-discovery after his stylish wife, Natalia, leaves him-can't convey Fuguet's mix of Chilean and Hollywood cultures, which gives these pieces a wonderful double vision-like quality. Like his hero Manuel Puig, Fuguet uses pop culture to draw out the deepest yearnings of his bumbling leading men.

December 1, 2005
Following up on the cinematic obsession evident in his 2003 novel, "The Movies of My Life", Fuguet scripts eight movie -shorts - ranging in length from two-page stories to a 100-page novelette. In keeping with his own position against magic realism (called McOndo), these stories are a throwback to realism and have a touch of ciné ma vé rité added in. The debt to realism is no more honest and direct than in -Truth and Consequences, - a road story in the Jack Kerouac vein. Each story has a distinct flavor, and some are particularly innovative, e.g., -Far West, - in which Fuguet features an interview, and -Magic Hour - and -More Stars Than There Are in Heaven, - in which he features a screenplay. After all, as one of Fuguet's characters says: -It's a short piece. You can experiment more with them. - The displaced characters are well developed but eccentric, from the quirky pet owner in -Children - to the suffering existentialist of -Lost. - This collection, with a variety of stories and styles, provides full-length entertainment. Recommended for public and academic collections." - Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC Lib. & Information Ctr., Dublin, OH"

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2005
Fuguet was born in Chile and lived in California until he was 13, collecting a bicultural experience and sensibility that he aptly uses in his writing. In this collection of short stories, his characters struggle with cultural identity within and between North and South America. Adolescents, facing the dreaded Prueba de Aptitud Academica, indulge in drinking and violence that gets out hand, creating a tragedy one character can never forget. A young man, adrift from his career in the U.S., returns to Chile with no clear ambition, discovering that he has lost his place in the world by going out in search of it. A self-absorbed young journalist seeks a career-changing interview and loses control of his subject. Fuguet's characters offer a perspective on young Latin Americans not fully at home in the U.S. or Latin America, captivated by pop culture and technology and hooked on fantasies about life in America that will inevitably lead to disappointment. Readers interested in Latin America and youth culture will enjoy this collection.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)