Fuguet is the central figure of a loose group of young Latin American writers—a movement known as McOndo—who identify themselves in opposition to magical realism. In the author's second pop-culture saturated novel to be published in English (after Bad Vibes), seismologist Beltrán Soler tells the story of his childhood via a catalogue of movies that influenced him at pivotal moments. The setup is stiff—the adult Beltrán is on his way to a conference in Tokyo when he is inspired to hole up in a hotel room in L.A. and begin writing his film-linked memoirs—but once Fuguet begins piecing together Beltrán's lopsided, bicultural life, the novel speeds along, overflowing with ironic insight. Born in 1964, Beltrán lives in Encino, Calif., until he is 10, when his family (father, mother and younger sister Manuela) move back to Santiago. Bourgeois in Chile, but barely middle class in the U.S., the family inhabits a weird in-between world. In Encino, Beltrán reenacts The Poseidon Adventure
with his friends; in Santiago, the family across the street (dubbed the Chilean Waltons by Beltrán) wins a family singing contest with its Sound of Music
medleys. The ongoing political upheaval in Chile feels like another Technicolor drama, with a few alarming incursions into reality. But the novel's true turmoil is personal: Beltrán's difficult adjustment to life in Chile, his adolescence and his family's collapse (his father leaves his mother the night Saturday Night Fever
opens). The movie titles heading each chapter serve as subtle triggers for reminiscence, but never become a structural straitjacket, and Fuguet's pop archness is tempered with honest feeling. Despite the rocky start, this is a fresh, notable effort. (Oct. 17)
Forecast:Fuguet has been much hyped as the new voice of Latin American literature (he appeared on the cover of the international edition of
Newsweek in 2002).
Bad Vibes failed to make much of a splash, but an eight-city author tour and growing interest in the McOndo movement (the term was coined by Fuguet and is derived from García Márquez's fictional city of Macondo) should get this novel noticed.
