My thesis, a novel titled The Republic of Catatonia, is a story of a broken family, and the one man trying to keep their legacy alive. An adrift academic named Miles Cata moves back to Northeastern Montana from New York City, when he learns about the death of his father. When he arrives, it turns out his father isn’t dead, and Miles soon learns of his father’s plan for building an autonomous micro-nation on the property of their Montana ranch. The novel is set in the \u2790s against the backdrop of the Bakken oil boom, and much of the second half deals with an oil company trying to run a pipeline through their property. Miles is then forced to take drastic measures in the fight to to preserve the country in his own backyard. Part sweeping f...