Awards
Winner of the 2003 Fernando Buesa Peace Prize (Spain)
A New York Times Notable Book
A Time Magazine "Best Comix of the Year"
From Powells.com
Browse all of the exceptional memoirs that made our list.
Staff Pick
Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis is a true-life account of childhood against the backdrop of radicalizing Iran. Satrapi doesn't shy away from depicting the brutal, stark truths of the Islamic Revolution and the ensuing Iran-Iraq War, but just as powerful are the moments of a young girl growing: the warm touches on her life by her family, her embattled relationship with the faith she's grown up with, the terrible recklessness of asserting her identity in a fundamentalism regime. For me, this read was as impactful as Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl. In a time of outspoken Islamophobia, Persepolis is an essential read. Recommended By Miranda G., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Originally published to wide critical acclaim in France, where it elicited comparisons to Art Spiegelman's
Maus,
Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi's wise, funny, and heartbreaking memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran's last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.
Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran: of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life and of the enormous toll repressive regimes exact on the individual spirit. Marjane's child's-eye-view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a stunning reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, through laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.
Review
"A triumph....Like Maus, Persepolis is one of those comic books capable of seducing even those most allergic to the genre. The author's masterstroke is to allow us to experience history from within her family, with irony and tenderness." Libération (France)
Review
"I cannot praise enough Marjane Satrapi's moving account of growing up as a spirited young girl in revolutionary and war-time Iran. Persepolis is disarming and often humorous but ultimately it is shattering." Joe Sacco, author of Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde
Review
"I thought [Persepolis] was a superb piece of work....Satrap has found a way of depicting human beings that is both simple and immediately comprehensible, AND is almost infinitely flexible. Anyone who's tried to draw a simplified version of a human face knows how immensely difficult it is not only to give the faces a range of expression, but also to maintain identities from one frame to the next. It's an enormous technical accomplishment." Philip Pullman, author of The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass
Review
"You've never seen anything like Persepolis the intimacy of a memoir, the irresistability of a comic book, and the political depth of a the conflict between fundamentalism and democracy. Marjane Satrapi may have given us a new genre." Gloria Steinem
Review
"[A] timely and timeless story....Powerfully understated, this work joins other memoirs Spiegelman's Maus and Sacco's Safe Area Goradze that use comics to make the unthinkable familiar." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Satrapi's super-naive style is powerful; it persuasively communicates confusion and horror through the eyes of a precocious preteen." Joy Press, Village Voice
Review
"Satrapi converts a childhood filled with secret police and a long war with Iraq into a comic strip that is both funny and dark." Sandip Roy, San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"The fact that [Satrapi] is able to portray such a vast range of emotions with a few simple strokes of a pen is impressive. That she does this consistently for 153 pages is a mighty achievement." USA Today
Review
"Satrapi pulls us into the story, which looks harmless, almost cute amid its cartoon-like illustrations. No sooner have we read the first page, however, than we're drawn into a heartbreaking tale..." Bernadette Murphy, Los Angeles Times
Review
"[T]he best coming-of-age story I've read in years....Satrapi manages to portray the often funny, largely forgotten mundanities of everyday life alongside and intermingled with the escalating horror of a culture torn violently between fundamentalism and secularism." Bethany Schneider, Newsday
Review
"American readers and booksellers...will likely find the form of Persepolis as striking as its content. Happily, a comic book's cardinal virtue is its accessibility. Persepolis will entertain bored teenagers and edify experts on the Middle East." Jeremy Smith, Chicago Tribune
Review
"[T]he latest and one of the most delectable examples of a booming postmodern genre: autobiography by comic book....Satrapi's drawing style is bold and vivid." Fernanda Eberstadt, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[An] extraordinary autobiography....A remarkable, revealing, and sometimes startling account, this is sure to be one of the most important graphic novels of the year. Highly recommended." Library Journal
Review
"[T]eens will learn much of the history of this important area and will identify with young Marji and her friends. This is a graphic novel of immense power and importance for Westerners of all ages. It will speak to the same audience as Art Spiegelman's Maus." School Library Journal
Review
"Satrapi's literary and graphic narratives provide a moving, humorous, and powerful view of life under a totalitarian religious state....A powerful, understated ending that brought tears to my eyes." Jennifer Ralston, Children's Literature
Review
"This is an excellent comic book, that deserves a place with Joe Sacco and even Art Spiegelman. In her bold black and white panels, Satrapi eloquently reasserts the moral bankruptcy of all political dogma and religious conformity; how it bullies, how it murders, and how it may always be ridiculed by individual rebellions of the spirit and the intellect." Zadie Smith, author of White Teeth
Review
"This witty, moving and illuminating book demonstrates graphically why the future of Iran lies with neither the clerics nor the American Empire." Tariq Ali, author of The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity
Review
"I found the work immensely moving with depths of nuance and wisdom that one might never expect to find in a comic book. It's a powerful, mysterious, enchanting story that manages to reflect a great swath of Iranian contemporary history within the sensitive, intimate tale of a young girl's coming-of-age. I didnt want it to end!" Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Crescent and Arabian Jazz
Review
"A rare and chilling memoir that offers every reader a personal, honest portrait of Iran's recent political and cultural history. Ms. Satrapi's provocative, graphic narrative of life in Iran before and after the Islamic revolution is an extraordinary testament to the level of human suffering experienced by Iranians tossed from one political hypocrisy to another. Aside from the humanistic dimension, the beautifully minimalist Persepolis gives further evidence of Marjane Satrapi's sensitivity and superb skill as an artist." Shirin Neshat, visual artist/filmmaker
Review
"Readers who have always wanted to look beyond political headlines and CNN's cliches should plunge into this unique illustrated story. Let Marji be your trusted companion, follow her into the warmth of a Persian home and out along Tehran's turbulent streets during those heady days of revolution. Persepolis opens a rare door to understanding of events that still haunt America, while shining a bright light on the personal humanity and humor so much alive in Iranian families today." Terence Ward, author of Searching for Hassan
Review
"Blending the historical with the personal is not an easy task, to blend the individual with the universal is even more challenging. But Marjane Satrapi has succeeded brilliantly. This graphic novel is a reminder of the human spirit that fights oppression and death, it is a witness to something true and lasting which is more affective than hundreds of news broadcasts." Hanan al-Shaykh, author of Women of Sand and Myrhh
Review
"Both enchanting and devastingly real, Persepolis captures the many complexities of modern Iran, filtered through compelling illustrations and a wise child's eye." Christiane Bird, author of Neither East Nor West
Review
"I'm not normally a comic book reader, and I'll admit I was skeptical. Within the first few pages, though, I felt the tiny hand of the narrator pulling me into her world. As she regaled me with tales of her extraordinary life, I found myself moved, fascinated, shocked and enthralled. The next time I looked up, I had finished the book. I looked around the room feeling bewildered. How, I wondered, did this wonderful little book manage to transport me so completely?"
Alison Wearing, author of Honeymoon in Purdah
Review
"This child's eye view of survival during Iran's revolution and the Iraq war made me laugh and cry. Most importantly, it helped me to see recent upheavals in a new way. This comic strip should be required reading!" Suzanne Fisher Staples, author of Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind and Haveli
Review
"I grew up reading the Mexican comics of Gabriel Vargas, graduated to the political teachings of Rius, fell under the spell of Linda Barry, Art Spiegelman, and now I am a fan of Marjane Satrapi. Her stories thrummed in my heart for days. Persepolis is part history book, part Scheherazade, astonishing as only true stories can be. I learned much about the history of Iran, but more importantly, it gave me hope for humanity in these unkind times." Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street and Caramelo
About the Author
Marjane Satrapi was born in 1969 in Rasht, Iran. She grew up in Tehran, where she studied at the Lycée Français before leaving for Vienna and then going to Strasbourg to study illustration. She currently lives in Paris, where she is at work on the sequel to Persepolis and where her illustrations appear regularly in newspapers and magazines. She is also the author of several children's books.