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Built Upon Freedom

My First Novel

My first novel, Built Upon Freedom, a dark, absurd tale of society under intensifying surveillance capitalism, is looking for a home! It was initially inspired by the fight (and my contributions to the fight) to keep Amazon HQ2 out of Long Island City, NYC. 

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The story centers on one protagonist facing the prospect of a mega-corporation building a giant tech campus in his neighborhood. It blends the realities of today’s world with the frightening potential of the next decade. It's a journey that questions about the growing entanglements between Big Tech and the U.S. government, the Amazonification of America, and individual agency under surveillance capitalism.

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Short adapted excerpts from the novel have appeared in Coffin Bell Journal and New Contexts: 2. For a taste of the novel, I encourage you to read "Look Book" in Coffin Bell's Technophobia issue. Here's how it begins:

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We were all leaving after the Mindfulness Moment mandated by human resources when our employer’s voice beamed again from the intercom. “Enjoy the rest of your day. And you,” my wristband buzzed vigorously, “see Caryline in the East Conference Room.”

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They placed the buzz on the underside of our wrists—right where a doctor’s finger would press in to take a pulse. Studies showed that this exact location led to the greatest percentage of successful workplace wristband notifications. In other words, it was the most sensitive spot on the wrist.

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The novel is in conversation with books like The Body Scout, Eleutheria, Temporary, The Sellout, Made for Love, Severance, and some of my favorite satirical classics like Breakfast of Champions and Catch-22.

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©2021 by Arthur Tarley

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