by RiadSattouf (Author)
VOLUME 1 IN THE UNFORGETTABLE STORY OF AN EXTRAORDINARY CHILDHOOD
A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2015/2016 | AN OBSERVER GRAPHIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016 | A NEW YORK TIMES CRITICS' TOP BOOKS OF 2016 'EXUBERANTLY HERETICAL'
'I tore through it... The most enjoyable graphic novel I've read in a while' Zadie Smith
'I joyously recommend this book to you' Mark Haddon
'Riad Sattouf is one of the great creators of our time' Alain De Botton
'Beautifully-written and drawn, witty, sad, fascinating... Brilliant' Simon Sebag Montefiore
The Arab of the Future tells the unforgettable story of Riad Sattouf's childhood, spent in the shadows of three dictators - Muammar Gaddafi, Hafez al-Assad, and his father.
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 humour, 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 by Sam Taylor.
WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR GRAPHIC NOVELS
NOMINATED FOR 'BEST REALITY-BASED WORK' AT THE EISNER AWARDS
'ENGROSSING' New York Times
'A PAGE TURNER' Guardian
'MARVELLOUS... BEGS TO BE READ IN ONE LONG SITTING' Herald
'AN OBJECT OF CONSENSUAL RAPTURE' New Yorker
'ONE OF THE GREATEST CARTOONISTS OF HIS GENERATION' Le Monde
Format: Illustrated
Pages: 160
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: Two Roads
Published: 07 Apr 2016
ISBN 10: 1473638119
ISBN 13: 9781473638112
Sattouf's book takes us from place to place and culture to culture, and in the emphasis of differences there is also the unveiling of similarities... Sattouf retells, with words and images, the heartbreaking realisation of the non-place in which many immigrants are forced to exist... Sattouf's book is challenging amongst other reasons because it deals with the most demonised, othered identity in Europe. Because the narrative takes the characters from country to country, language to language and culture to culture, the narrative perspective is necessarily comparative, and because things are never black and white, either/or, often the conclusions are contradictory... There is a loneliness in all of Sattouf's characters, who, often, do not really talk to each other, but to themselves, or keep a repressed/repressive silence. In the constant coming and going of the trial and error from country to country, the immigrant's story is, in spite of the presence of family, one of solitude, but moved forward by hope...
In this sense The Arab of the Future is a profoundly political and timely book... The present historical moment in Europe calls more than ever for exercises of solidarity and empathy: in retelling his past Sattouf is not merely retreating into himself, but telling us very important things about the historical past, present and possible futures of us all.
RIAD SATTOUF is a bestselling cartoonist and filmmaker who grew up in Syria and Libya and now lives in Paris.
The author of four comics series in France and a former contributor to the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo, Sattouf is now a weekly columnist for l'Obs. He also directed the films The French Kissers (winner of a Cesar Award for Best First Film) and Jacky in the Women's Kingdom.
The Arab of the Future - which was awarded the Fauve d'Or Prize for Best Album of the Year at the Angouleme International Comics Festival and has been translated into twenty languages - is his first work to appear in English.
riadsattouf.com
@RiadSattouf