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Sattouf, Riad,

The Arab of the future : a graphic memoir : a childhood in the Middle East (1978-1984) / Graphic memoir : a childhood in the Middle East (1978-1984) Childhood in the Middle East (1978-1984) Arab of the future : a graphic memoir : a childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984 Riad Sattouf ; translated by Sam Taylor. - Illustrated edition. - London : Two Roads, an imprint of John Murray Press, 2016. - 153 pages; color illustrations; 24 cm.

In striking, virtuoso graphic style that captures both the immediacy of childhood and the fervor of political idealism, Riad Sattouf recounts his nomadic childhood growing up in rural France, Gaddafi's Libya, and Assad's Syria--but always under the roof of his father, a Syrian Pan-Arabist who drags his family along in his pursuit of grandiose dreams for the Arab nation. Riad, delicate and wide-eyed, follows in the trail of his mismatched parents; his mother, a bookish French student, is as modest as his father is flamboyant. Venturing first to the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab State and then joining the family tribe in Homs, Syria, they hold fast to the vision of the paradise that always lies just around the corner. And hold they do, though food is scarce, children kill dogs for sport, and with locks banned, the Sattoufs come home one day to discover another family occupying their apartment. The ultimate outsider, Riad, with his flowing blond hair, is called the ultimate insult... Jewish. And in no time at all, his father has come up with yet another grand plan, moving from building a new people to building his own great palace. Brimming with life and dark humor, The Arab of the Future reveals the truth and texture of one eccentric family in an absurd Middle East, and also introduces a master cartoonist in a work destined to stand alongside Maus and Persepolis.


Translated from the French.

ISBN: 9781473638112 1473638119

Subjects--Personal Names:
Sattouf, Riad--Childhood and youth

Subjects--Topical Terms:
Cartoonists--France --Biography

Subjects--Geographic Terms:
Middle East--Biography
France.

Index Terms--Genre/Form:
Nonfiction comics.

Dewey Class. No.: 741.5/69092