Arc

[close] Experimental, post-modern, philosophical, satirical, dystopian fiction.

Catena recounts the open-ended odyssey of a modern antihero adrift at sea.

Born into the cultural fragmentation of diaspora and a world citizen by default, the protagonist, named simply Dog, roams the globe in a Sisyphean quest for home, unable to claim allegiance to either creed or flag.

Erudite, sharp-witted, and street-smart, Dog marshals the survivor’s tenacity in his attempt to distill a legacy of victimization into a cogent, dynamic identity marked by the creative impulse, and, ultimately, a life-affirming ethos borne of the liberation from the self and the other alike.

The first epistle of the Journey to Virginland trilogy, Catena is Dog’s maiden foray into his ancestral country, where women are perennially struck by virginhood, men remain churlishly Neanderthaline, and a resplendent culture is held hostage by the twin hydras of chauvinism and corruption. It is here, in his self-referential heartland, that a disillusioned and ostracized Dog will be propelled into a consummate search for meaning.

The ensuing journey unfolds as a fluid, cinematic tapestry of emotion and experience, seemingly rudderless yet tightly interconnected, with the narrative woven together by the protagonist’s biting observations on sex, politics, history, religion, and philosophy.

Closely reflecting Dog’s splintered world, which is a consequence of empire in naked brutality marketed as progress, or as the exigencies of civilization, Catena is a conscious subversion of the form and structure of the modern novel. Melikian rejects the very nature of the conventional novel, viewing it as emblematic of the rational structures, cohesiveness, and verticality of centers of power, of the ongoing project of imperialism.

What emerges from Catena is the irreverent, often bawdy, and intensely moving tale of a stateless outsider which dispenses linearity in favor of fresh air, and a freedom of seeing which hints, with every turn, at a higher sense of humanism. [close]

[close] ***AUTOGRAPHED ADVANCE READER'S COPY***

This YA contemporary debut already has people talking!

"A searing and tender portrait of the complexities of high school friendships, dating and privilege. CANARY is a testament to the power of hard-won truths."
~Daisy Whitney, author of THE MOCKINGBIRDS and WHEN YOU WERE HERE

"In an engrossing, carefully unfolding drama, sophomore Kate Franklin adjusts to a new school, a powerful set of friends and a family that is falling apart...Overall, a sophisticated, evocative portrait of a teen girl finding her place among peers and family. (Fiction. 14-18)"
~Kirkus

"The subtle way Rachele Alpine addresses love, loss, popularity, and friendship makes this book a realistic and arresting read. For anyone who ever struggled with frenemies and fitting in, CANARY is an important addition to contemporary YA discussions."
~Jennifer Brown, author of THE HATE LIST

"Rachele Alpine's CANARY sings the truth about what happens when we put our high school heroes on a pedestal and give them the power to act like villains."
~Erin Jade Lange, author of BUTTER

"Alpine’s Canary is a deeply-felt, poignant account of someone trying to find strength in a world that has hurled its worst at her. Alpine has created a compelling narrator in Kate and the challenges she must face are both realistic and heartbreaking."
~Colleen Clayton, author of WHAT HAPPENS NEXT [close]