Mala Onda

Mala onda (English: Bad Vibes) is a bildungsroman novel and social commentary by Alberto Fuguet. It is also Fuguet's debut novel, first published in 1991.

Mala onda is set in Chile during a ten-day period in late 1980, around the time of the Chilean constitutional referendum. The protagonist is Matías Vicuña, a maladjusted, upper class, 17-year-old boy who is jaded and frustrated by what he perceives as the folly and blandness of his family and peers.

The novel examines the Chilean emulation of North American consumerism, in the context of a growing opposition to the dictatorial rule of Augusto Pinochet in Chile.