Description
“RAÑA is a feat of the imagination. Caleb True weaves history into his fiction with grace, soul, and dexterity. For fans of Ethan Rutherford’s North Sun, and anyone else curious about the hidden corners of history.” —Amity Gaige, author of Heartwood
“Mythic, original, deeply intelligent, and even prophetic—RAÑA presents a boxer at the top of his game, at war with mortality and the forces of destiny. Caleb True is a writer to watch.” —Janet Peery, National Book Award Finalist for The River Beyond the World
“A knockout debut that announces Caleb True as a writer to watch. Like its titular fighter, RAÑA is compact, powerful, and relentless in its vision of the lasting violence of imperialism.” —Michael Alessi, author of Call a Body Home
“RAÑA delivers only the goods: it’s unsentimental, unsparing, and yet deeply poetic. True is at top form here.” —Paul Bergmann, songwriter
“An epic in the space of a fist. Like Agustina Bazterrica, Gabriel García Márquez, or Ernest Hemingway, True’s prose brings family, community, and friendship to life as his characters reckon with oppression, classism, poverty, and lack of opportunity. The Malvinas Islands and the South Atlantic are drawn with a curious, sympathetic, and keen eye for natural and cultural history as well as an appreciation for the vastness of the ocean, the kelp forests, and the sheep-dotted islands. The incongruity of British citizens living so far from home, defending land that was once Argentina’s, paints a complex historical drama without ever becoming pedantic. Like the Arctic winds that haunt True’s prose, RAÑA whips as much as it whispers.” —Kristine Zeigler, author of Cover This Country Like Snow and Other Stories and Fundraiser’s Companion
“In RAÑA, Caleb True moves between incantation and brutality with the poise of a born stylist. He shares with W.G. Sebald a gift for making memory feel archaeological and Roberto Bolaño a fascination with violence as both historical fact and personal mythology. His unforgettable protagonist Eugenio Rafael Raña—gaucho, conscript, bicycle thief, survivor, boxer—is a man who fights not to win but to keep fighting, who carries a war inside him that no peace can end. This novella will haunt you.” —John McManus, Whiting Award Winner and author of Bitter Milk and Fox Tooth Heart
“Caleb True’s stunning debut is a window into the life, psyche, and struggles of Eugenio Rafael Raña, a troubled Argentinian veteran of the South Atlantic War, who struggles to channel his unresolved trauma and anger into purpose. Vivid scenes from within the boxing ring, theft, and war, offer a rich exploration of Raña’s life and identity under the haunting shadows of colonialism. His yearning for meaning against the backdrop of a nation’s loss, violence, and disillusionment is an incredible journey. Told through exacting prose and style, RAÑA is a powerful, compact saga from a thrilling new voice in fiction.” —Michael Nye, author of Until We Have Faces
