An Incomplete Catalog of Disappearance by Diana Oropeza

$12.00

ISBN 978-1-892061-99-7
84 pages, 4.25 x 7
Available through Ingram and Asterism Books Distribution.

Description

Missing: The Statue of Liberty. A lost Raphael self-portrait last seen with a military unit named Hellfish. A manuscript by the artist Sophie Calle. Your local scorpion population. An astronaut-parent. A housekeeper. A leg. Unfiled files. D.B. Cooper. That volcano erupting behind you. The present tense…

These are just a handful of the many disappearances Diana Oropeza explores in her startling debut book, An Incomplete Catalog of Disappearance, a hybrid work of flash fiction and creative nonfiction that haunts at every turn. Many voices, named and unnamed, document the unresolved nature of disappearance and unending grief that follows in its wake. As you read, the book itself disappears in your hands.

“A monarch of the short form, Diana Oropeza has achieved the seemingly impossible: she has pulled a Jorge Luis Borges rabbit from a lexical hat. Rooted and anchored in research and fictive veracity, she intentionally confiscates academic surrealism with wit and pith. With each piece, Oropeza, much like Dorothy Dietrich catching a narrative bullet with her mouth, bends time and collapses stars, surprising the reader with every twist and turn of phrase, and bestowing phantom limbs to their chiropteran and lagomorph thoughts. These mesmerizing stories in An Incomplete Catalog of Disappearance hold people, (meta)things, and nonexistent beings hostage with their concise economy, whimsical non-linearity, and highly imaginative, nomadic narratives. Her work is the most electrifying text I have read in such a long time.” – Vi Khi Nao, author of The Italy Letters

“Diana Oropeza’s An Incomplete Catalog of Disappearance is a marvel. Suspend your logic, allow yourself to be pulled into the labyrinth, trust “a certain unfocusing of the eyes,” and you’ll be fascinated by what, gently and quietly, appears through the blur. I already can’t wait for Diana’s future books.” – poupeh missaghi, author of Sound Museum

AUTHOR BIO

At a young age, Diana Oropeza developed a strange condition in which a parasitic worm replaced her tongue. The worm went on to study journalism and media at UC Berkeley and earned an MFA in creative writing from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. The worm performs spoken word in two musical projects, The Social Stomach, and CHIBI, and is also a member of Yelling Choir. In 2020, the worm self-published a poetry chapbook titled Origin Story. Both Diana and the worm were raised in Donner Lake.

$12
ISBN 978-1-892061-99-7
84 pages, 4.25 x 7
Cover art by Kevin Sampsell

Read excerpts of the book at River Styx Magazine.

Available through Ingram, Asterism Books Distribution, and Antiquated Future.

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