The Arab of the Future, the #1 French best-seller, tells the
unforgettable story of Riad Sattouf's childhood, spent in the shadows of
3 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 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.
