The Arab of the Future

Riad Sattouf’s shockingly blunt The Arab of the Future, which tells the story of the French cartoonist’s itinerant childhood in the Middle East, is a must for anyone who wants to understand more about the failure of the pan-Arab dream, with all the consequences this has had for the situation in which we now find ourselves. It’s also a page-turner, dissecting as it does the psychology of a man (Riad’s Syrian father) whose increasingly deluded idealism results in a form of tyranny when it comes to his own family. - Guardian (Best Graphic Books of 2015)

Exquisitely illustrated, and filled with experiences of misfortune bordering on the farcical, Mr. Sattouf’s book is a disquieting yet essential read - 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 - New Yorker

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 - Guardian

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

Engrossing … Sattouf writes in a fluid prose, beautifully translated by Sam Taylor - New York Times Book Review (Editor s Choice)

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. - New Republic

The Arab of the Future confirms Riad Sattouf’s place among the greatest cartoonists of his generation - Le Monde

RIAD SATTOUF is a bestselling cartoonist and filmmaker who grew up in Syria and Libya and now lives in Paris.

The author of four comics series in France and a former contributor to the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo, Sattouf is now a weekly columnist for l’Obs. He also directed the films The French Kissers (winner of a Cesar Award for Best First Film) and Jacky in the Women’s Kingdom.

The Arab of the Future - which was awarded the Fauve d’Or Prize for Best Album of the Year at the Angouleme International Comics Festival and has been translated into twenty languages - is his first work to appear in English.