[Sattouf's] drawings are more precise than those of Marjane Satrapi and less stylized than those of Zeina Abirached, who each mined similar material in Persepolis and A Game for Swallows. And Sattouf writes in a fluid prose, beautifully translated by Sam Taylor, that makes The Arab of the Future engrossing to read.
The New York Times Book Review - Laila Lalami
★ 07/13/2015 This first part of former Charlie Hebdo columnist Sattouf’s autobiography was a controversial bestseller in France. It follows his early childhood through stints in France, Libya, and Syria, and his cross-cultural alienation from all of them. Sattouf’s father is Syrian, his mother French, and his story recounts the way his father commandeered their family life to reconcile himself with his Arab heritage. Though he is often forced back to France, Sattouf’s father takes teaching jobs in dictator-run Arab countries, then works to convince himself, and his family, that their near-utopian dreams are close to coming true. But through the author’s young eyes these regimes are revealed for all their weirdnesses and hardships. Despite his father’s determination to integrate his son into Arab society, little Sattouf—with his long blond hair—never fully fits in, and this report reads like the curious pondering of an alien from another world. Caught between his parents, Sattouf makes the best of his situation by becoming a master observer and interpreter, his clean, cartoonish art making a social and personal document of wit and understanding. Agent: Marleen Seegers (Oct.)
Winner of the L.A. Times Book Prize "One of the most prominent cartoonists in the world right now." —Smithsonian “Exquisitely illustrated, and filled with experiences of misfortune bordering on the farcical, Mr. Sattouf’s book is a disquieting yet essential read .” —Carmela Ciuraru, The New York Times “The Arab of the Future has become that rare thing in France’s polarized intellectual climate: an object of consensual rapture, hailed as a masterpiece in the leading journals of both the left and the right. . . . it has, in effect, made Sattouf the Arab of the present in France.” —Adam Shatz, The New Yorker “As the very young Riad Sattouf navigates life in Libya, France, and Syria, he gets a serious education in the mysterious vectors of power that shape not just the political world, but the intimate sphere of his own family. With charming yet powerful drawings and vivid sensory details, Sattouf delivers a child’s-eye view of the baffling adult world in all its complexity, corruption, and delusion. This is a beautiful, funny, and important graphic memoir .” —Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home “The hundred-and-fifty-odd pages of Riad Sattouf’s internationally bestselling graphic memoir . . . move with an irrepressible comic velocity . The book is told Candide -style . . . an indictment of the adult world and its insidious methods of diminishment we all have either faced or been fortunate enough to escape.” —The New Republic “Engaging and lovely to look at . . . Sattouf has an eye for grimly funny details . . . and milks the disjunction between how he experienced his political environment at the time and how he understands it now for all it's worth.” —Douglas Wolk, Los Angeles Times “Sattouf’s work is laced with astute observations of human beings . His memoirs often dwell on their failings: hypocrisy, cowardice, bullying. Yet there’s humour too – mainly because his humans are so helplessly absurd.” —The Guardian “The Arab of the Future is already being compared to biographical classics like Maus and Persepolis, and the modern relevance of the countries in which it is set is sure to make this a widely talked about book this year .” —Mentalfloss.com “The Arab of the Future maintains a balance of comedy and commentary and …is carried by excellent drawings. Riad Sattouf’s work takes its place alongside other classic animated retrospective memoirs from the region, Persepolis . . . and Waltz with Bashir.” —The New York Journal of Books “Seriously funny and penetratingly honest, Riad Sattouf tells the epic story of his eccentric and troubled family. Written with tenderness, grace, and piercing clarity, The Arab of the Future is one of those books that transcend their form to become a literary masterpiece .” —Michel Hazanavicius, director of The Artist “The Arab of the Future is a beautifully cartooned story that is both modern and timeless. The protagonist is one of the most endearing in comics. An important book, not just as art but as a window into another culture.” —Gene Luen Yang, author of American Born Chinese “The Arab of the Future confirms Riad Sattouf’s place among the greatest cartoonists of his generation .” —Le Monde “Engrossing . . . Sattouf writes in a fluid prose, beautifully translated by Sam Taylor.” —Laila Lalami, The New York Times Book Review (Editor’s Choice) “In his comics, Sattouf deftly weaves the political background with the everyday. He tells a personal story but also observes the society and country around him, and his great sense of humor makes reading the book thoroughly enjoyable. It’ll have you laughing to the point of tears .” —Haaretz “Very funny and very sad . . . the social commentary here is more wistful and melancholy than sharp-edged . . . subtly written and deftly illustrated, with psychological incisiveness and humor.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Sattouf’s account of his childhood is a deeply personal recollection of a peripatetic youth that can resonate with audiences across the world. It also paints an incisive picture of the Arab world in the late 1970s and early 1980s that sets the stage for the revolutionary changes that would grip and roil the region decades later.” —Foreign Policy “Wide-eyed, yet perceptive, the book documents the wanderings of [Sattouf’s] mismatched parents—his bookish French mother and pan-Arabist father, Abdel-Razak Sattouf . . . often disquieting, but always honest .” —France 24 “Despite his father’s determination to integrate his son into Arab society, little Sattouf—with his long blond hair—never fully fits in, and this report reads like the curious pondering of an alien from another world. Caught between his parents, Sattouf makes the best of his situation by becoming a master observer and interpreter , his clean, cartoonish art making a social and personal document of wit and understanding.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review, Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2015)
Wide-eyed, yet perceptive, the book documents the wanderings of [Sattouf's] mismatched parents-his bookish French mother and pan-Arabist father, Abdel-Razak Sattouf . . . often disquieting, but always honest.
Sattouf's account of his childhood is a deeply personal recollection of a peripatetic youth that can resonate with audiences across the world. It also paints an incisive picture of the Arab world in the late 1970s and early 1980s that sets the stage for the revolutionary changes that would grip and roil the region decades later.
The Arab of the Future confirms Riad Sattouf's place among the greatest cartoonists of his generation.
Seriously funny and penetratingly honest, Riad Sattouf tells the epic story of his eccentric and troubled family. Written with tenderness, grace, and piercing clarity, The Arab of the Future is one of those books that transcend their form to become a literary masterpiece.
director of The Artist Michel Hazanavicius
As the very young Riad Sattouf navigates life in Libya, France, and Syria, he gets a serious education in the mysterious vectors of power that shape not just the political world, but the intimate sphere of his own family. With charming yet powerful drawings and vivid sensory details, Sattouf delivers a child's-eye view of the baffling adult world in all its complexity, corruption, and delusion. This is a beautiful, funny, and important graphic memoir.
author of Fun Home Alison Bechdel
11/15/2014 Sattouf uses the graphic format to tell a vibrant story of his family's travels from rural France to Gaddafi's Libya to Assad's Syria, herded by his larger-than-life Syrian Pan-Arabist father. Alas, once they join remaining family in Homs, the grand dream proves elusive as people starve and the slight, blond Sattouf is mockingly called Jewish—the height of insults. A No. 1 best seller in France that could be a smash here, too.
★ 2015-06-28 A child's-eye view of upheaval in the Arab world and its relations with the West. The first work by the acclaimed French cartoonist and filmmaker to be published in English is sure to extend his renown. "My name is Riad," writes Sattouf on the first page. "In 1980, I was two years old and I was perfect." However, such perfection came at a cost for the blond-haired, bright-eyed, delicately featured protagonist, particularly after his family left his mother's native France to further his academic father's vision of "pan-Arabism. He was obsessed with education for the Arabs. He thought that Arab men had to educate themselves to escape from religious dogma." Yet there was no escape from religious dogma, political repression, or rootless poverty. The author chronicles his father's spurning of an appointment from Oxford because "they misspelled my name in the letter" for one that moved the family to Libya, where dreams of equality came at a price, since squattership seemed to trump ownership where living quarters were concerned. Though a return to France would have been welcome, the father moved the family to his native Syria, which was not what he remembered or envisioned, where the son found the morning call to prayer to be "the saddest voice in the world." It appears through the narrator's innocent eyes that much of the adult world was seriously out of touch with reality, though he felt even more threatened by his peers and relations, who made fun of his "ugly yellow Jewish hair." Somehow, the narrative is both very funny and very sad, though the fact that this book even exists shows that a boy's artistic gifts were finally permitted to flourish. Sattouf has also worked as a columnist for the satirical Charlie Hebdo, but the social commentary here is more wistful and melancholy than sharp-edged. This first volume of a memoir "to be continued" is subtly written and deftly illustrated, with psychological incisiveness and humor.