Part I: Grandmother Summary and Analysis

Black Dog of Fate is a book about a man's journey to find his roots and a civilization's journey to survive. As author Peter Balakian learns more of his Armenian roots, he learns too of the Armenian genocide of 1915 and of his family's horrible past.

In "Black Dog of Fate," the first chapter, Peter Balakian tells readers of his Armenian family. His grandmother, Nafina, and her daughters, Gladys and Lucille, arrive every Sunday for a large Armenian dinner. Impeccably dressed and fashionable, the women are constantly fawning over Peter. For a young boy in the '60s in suburbia Tenafly, New Jersey, such attention is unwanted, but is tolerated out of respect. Peter notes his family speaks fluent Armenian but that his siblings and he know very little. His childhood is filled with memories of helping his...