[close] Alberto Fuguet's newly translated novel Bad Vibes introduces this popular young Chilean writer to English-language readers. Written in the engaging and intelligent voice of Matias, an alienated, rich, teenage kid, Bad Vibes is frequently described as a South American Catcher in the Rye. Fuguet's story is set in 1980, a politically-charged era of Chilean history, when many in the country struggled against the country's dictatorship, including 17-year-old Matias. Meanwhile, Matias is also breaking up under the strain of an adolescence in a collapsing family, of cutting classes and snorting cocaine, and of the pursuit of love, sex, and meaning. [close]