The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984: A Graphic Memoir

Entertaining, humorous and disturbing. The insights here are deeply real, very personal. You just want to know more -- how and why is this marriage holding together? When will it end and how? At times, this is a very painful account of a family in some very strange circumstances. It is also the amusing perspective of a tiny, quirky outsider who is forced to bridge different worlds. The insights into the Arabic mindset are electrifying and especially relevant. I will be looking for the next book. Superb.

Comics can do in one panel what writing alone can't do in one page. Sattouf tackles racism, misogyny, and cultural affronts with starkly drawn pictures that often don't even have (or need) words to describe.

I really can't decide how I feel about this book. I can't put my feelings into words. I gave it 4 stars because the graphics are great, and the sarcasm/humor is on point. No one can say otherwise. However, being an Arab and a Muslim myself, I feel torn about where I stand. Yes, this is a satiric account of a boy's life moving around between Libya, Syria and France. A boy who was born to a Syrian father and a French mother. It bothered me how acquiescent the mother seemed to be, it was actually quite annoying. For someone who is not Arab and was not raised in the Middle East, to give up her life so readily for an extremely politically opinionated Syrian man and live the life she has (according to Riad's account that is), it was frustrating. He portrayed her as a woman without a voice. Of course, this is only his account, and I can't be sure how credible or accurate it all is. I mean, we are talking about the life of a boy from the age of 2 to the age of about 6 years old. How can he remember his life at that age in such detail? And if he didn't and this is all based on experiences described by his family (mom, dad, grandparents etc.), then how accurate are those memories? Everyone remembers the same incident differently, so you can never actually be sure. In that sense, this memoir immediately lacks some of its credibility. On the other hand, there's the whole idea of simply taking things at face value and learning to laugh at oneself. And that's something Arabs are not very good at doing. We don't know how to laugh at ourselves and not take things too seriously. Myself included. We don't know how to be satirical or ironic, and those who do - such as Riad here - are always judged and looked at with mild disdain. We also tend to quickly take offense and attack. This book is full of satire, that's for sure. It highlights some key traditions and customs of Arabs - specifically Muslims. Such as the prayers and eating together and so on. I found myself having to constantly remind myself that this is a memoir dating back to early 1980s when things were very different back then. The fact is, nothing portrayed in the book is completely out of line (except we don't go around beating animals or killing them, even Arabs are horrified by those children's actions), and yet I still caught myself occasionally being offended. I've finished reading this book and I've made a conscious decision not to go looking for the other installments.

I bought it after listening to an interview with the author on France24. My 8 to 14 year olds absolutely love the series and avidly read them all.

The renderings were wonderful. I love the color schemes . People here really dislike the father figure and see him as a tyrant of sorts. While I didn't "like" him per se, I found him to be a sympathetic character. Imagine growing up in a rural, nearly medieval village and being the only person in your family to become literate, get an advanced education, learn new languages, and travel abroad? How does one reconcile their new knowledge with culture and family of origin? This is a man trying to straddle two very disparate cultures and make sense of it, decide what should be adopted and what should be thrown away. It wouldn't be an easy task for any one, and in our globalist world we know plenty of people are dealing with this very struggle on a daily basis. While there are dark elements in the story, I also felt sentimentality and nostalgia for the idealism expressed by the father and by Quadaffi's communitarian vision. This was the era when people believed that Marxism and Pan-Arabism would transform society and move it forward. The father embraces these ideals and believes a new society is possible. It all seems quaint now, in an era where much of the Muslim vanguard has discarded Marxist ideals and instead embraced the retrograde, Wahhabist vision of life organized around theocratic principles. This story may have been different if it took place in the modern era. It's a great book, hard to put down, and challenging to modern western sensibilities.

This book was an okay read, but I won't be seeking out the sequel. Was it a satirical look at Arab life through the stereotypes that exist or are they really middle of the road pooping, puppy stabbing barbarians? Is it an accurate view or was it simply telling the story through the warped view of a six year old where we are to assume things are exaggerated? Are we supposed to support his dominating father and submissive mother? I have no idea. I quickly grew frustrated with watching his father preach hate and move the family from one abusive or unsafe situation to the next, alienating the mother from her culture and family, without so much as a peep from her or her family. She was just horribly complicit. Once the book starts talking about Arabs pooping in the road, beating children, and stabbing puppies, I had no idea what type of book I was reading. It seemed like anti-middle eastern propaganda, but I also wasn't sure if maybe it was an accurate portrayal of what the author saw. It just seemed all over the place without a set narrative or direction, and I wonder how accurate the book can even be since it's based on the authors memories from when he was 2-6 years old.

Histórico y biográfico a partes iguales, con la maestría narrativa del autor a la que nos tiene acostumbrados. Muy recomendable.

This is an amazing story, the first of a trilogy - Riad Sattouf's drawings are simple and reminiscent of newspaper cartoonists, but the story he tells about his life under three dictators - Qaddafi, Assad, and his father - is tremendously powerful and moving. The background of his childhood, the oppressive atmosphere of rural Syria, is startling and a revelation for people who have never seen these regimes in action. Highly recommended.

an essential read if you liked Maus and Persepolis.

Not what I was expecting. Very engaging story with mischievous graphics. A childhood story that should only be read by adults. I continue to think about some of the issues it raised. If you haven't read a graphic novel, this is an interesting one to start with.

Terrific! Authentic! Funny! Highly recommended!