The Complete Persepolis

By Marjane Satrapi ,

Book cover of The Complete Persepolis

Book description

Here, in one volume: Marjane Satrapi's best-selling, internationally acclaimed graphic memoir of growing up as a girl in revolutionary Iran. • "That Satrapi chose to tell her remarkable story as a gorgeous comic book makes it totally unique and indispensable" —TIME

Persepolis is the story of Satrapi's unforgettable childhood and…

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Why read it?

3 authors picked The Complete Persepolis as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

My family fled Iran a couple years after the Islamic Revolution, but growing up, my parents didn’t talk about that period in their life all that much. It was sort of like my friend whose dad never talked about Vietnam. So, even though I was born in Iran post-revolution, I didn’t learn much about the history of the Shah’s downfall until I read Marjane Satrapi’s incredible graphic novels – Persepolis, Books One and Two. Satrapi manages to create a funny and heartbreaking memoir about her adolescence during the revolution and her life as a young ex-pat living in…

From Sara's list on life inside and outside of Iran.

Marjane Satrapi’s powerful graphic novel memoir is one of my all-time favorite books in any genre. The stories that comprise her young life during Iran’s cultural revolution, her eventual solitary exile in Europe, and her post-war return, are riveting, heartbreaking, hilarious, and unforgettable. Illustrated in stunning black and white drawings, Persepolis blends Satrapi’s inner and outer experience of events and characters with such sublime artistry that her story will (if I can predict it) become instantly lodged in your heart. 

This graphic novel went global when it was made into a film of the same name, but even if you’ve seen it on screen, it is worth seeking out the book. Charming, human and bursting with wit and character, we follow our teen punk heroine from her life in pre-revolutionary Iran through the tumultuous years of her country’s uprising and her own journey into adulthood and exile.

From Lois' list on understanding modern Iran.

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