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The Complete Persepolis

20th Anniversary Edition

Part of Pantheon Graphic Library

Author Marjane Satrapi

Translated by Anjali Singh

Hardcover

$35.00 US

Knopf | Pantheon

6.31"W x 9.15"H x 1.08"D (16.0 x 23.2 x 2.7 cm) | 24 oz (692 g) | 12 per carton

On sale Aug 08, 2023 | 352 Pages | 9780593701058

Grades 9-12 + AP/IB

Sales rights: World

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20th ANNIVERSARY EDITION • Persepolis is a classroom staple, a feminist manifesto, and one of the most beloved graphic novels of all time. For the first time in hardcover, this stunning edition examines the Iranian political landscape in the context of global politics today. • WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR

"A stunning graphic memoir...a wholly original achievement in the form." —The New York Times

“Persepolis stands in defiant resistance alongside other classics of its kind, from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman to ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’ and Memoirs of a Revolutionist. Twenty years on, it remains urgent, necessary reading.”—Kirkus Reviews

For the first time in hardcover,a stunning twentieth-anniversary complete edition of the beloved graphic memoir, with a new introduction by the author that examines the Iranian political
landscape in the context of global politics

Here in one volume: Marjane Satrapi’s best-selling, internationally acclaimed memoir in-comic-strips. Persepolis is the story of Satrapi’s unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna, facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming—both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland. It is the chronicle of a girlhood and adolescence at once outrageous and familiar, a young life entwined with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up.

Edgy, searingly observant, and candid, often heartbreaking but threaded throughout with raw humor and hard-earned wisdom, Persepolis is “a dazzling singular achievement” (Salon) from one of the most highly regarded, uniquely talented graphic artists at work today.

INTRODUCTION
To the 20th Anniversary Edition

When Persepolis was first published in France in 2000, I was sure the world was headed in the right direction. There were no major wars, and it seemed that humanity had somehow learned from its mistakes, that in the twenty-first century we’d finally come to realize that the earth belonged to everyone equally and that we were one race—the human race.

Believing this, I was certain the need for the book would fade over time. That soon enough what I had written about—living through a revolution and a war and growing up under the Islamic Republic of Iran’s dictatorship—would feel like ancient history. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Persepolis was released in the United States in 2003, in the aftermath of 9/11, and we Iranians had come to be considered part of the Axis of Evil. I was invited to appear across the country, even at West Point, where I spoke about the importance of differentiating between the Iranian people and the actions of the Islamic Republic, and I became a vocal critic of the war in Iraq, pointing out the hypocrisy of trying to instill democracy with bombs.

In the years since, the book has been both beloved and banned. Banned for its sexual scenes (I still don’t know where those scenes are); for its torture scenes (because it’s acceptable for assault rifles to be legal in the United States, even if that frequently results in the murder of innocent people, but it’s not okay for a reader to see a single drawing documenting the torture of political prisoners); and, more recently, because of Islamophobia.

I take the book’s banning as a huge compliment. A banned book is always a good book. After all, what better company to be in than Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain?

Now, as I write this, a new revolution is happening in Iran, started by young women in response to the killing of Mahsa Amini. It’s the first feminist revolution in which women and men are fighting together, hand in hand for their freedom.

I am certain we will succeed.

Why am I hopeful?

First off, at the time of the 1979 revolution that I describe in Persepolis, only 40 percent of Iranians were literate; today more than 80 percent are. Second, the digital revolution has allowed an entire generation unfettered access to information, to be in touch with the world and to decide for themselves what they want to believe in. Third, a dictatorship that is ready to accept reform is no longer a dictatorship. And, finally, the future of every country is its youth, and this new generation is modern, not sexist, and aspires to freedom and democracy. Moreover, they did not have to live through the trauma of revolution and war the way we did.

No country in the world has had as many revolutions as Iran. But this time the youth are not just educated; they are fearless in their opposition to gender apartheid and patriarchal culture, which are the biggest enemies of democracy. Not only has the wall of fear fallen but fear has changed sides.

The young Marji I was would certainly not leave her country; she would surely stay and fight, but at the time I wrote this book she couldn’t. Reading Persepolis today, it’s clear how little the situation has changed—it’s people’s reactions that have evolved. Instead of running away from the bully, we fight.

At the end of the book’s original introduction, I wrote: “One can forgive but should never forget.” Twenty years later I would add: One also has to understand why this happened. Because if we know the answer, we can stop history from repeating itself.

To the freedom of all, wherever they may be.

Marjane Satrapi
Paris, 2023

Praise for Persepolis: Volume 1

A New York Times Notable Book • A Time Magazine “Best Comix of the Year” • A San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times Best Seller

"A memoir of growing up as a girl in revolutionary Iran, Persepolis provides a unique glimpse into a nearly unknown and unreachable way of life.... That Satrapi chose to tell her remarkable story as a gorgeous comic book makes it totally unique and indispensable." —Time

“Delectable... Dances with drama and insouciant wit.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A stunning graphic memoir hailed as a wholly original achievement in the form. There’s still a startling freshness to the book. It won’t age. In inky shadows and simple, expressive lines—reminiscent of Ludwig Bemelmans’s “Madeline”—Satrapi evokes herself and her schoolmates coming of age in a world of protests and disappearances ... A stark, shocking impact.” —Parul Sehgal, “The 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years” The New York Times

“A dazzlingly singular achievement.... Striking a perfect balance between the fantasies and neighborhood conspiracies of childhood and the mounting lunacy of Khomeini's reign, she's like the Persian love child of Spiegelman and Lynda Barry.” —Salon

“A brilliant and unusual graphic memoir.... [Told] in a guileless voice ... accompanied by a series of black-and-white drawings that dramatically illustrate how a repressive regime deforms ordinary lives.” —Vogue

"Odds are, you’ll be too busy being entertained to realize how much you’ve learned until you turn the last page.” —Elle.com

“[A] self-portrait of the artist as a young girl, rendered in graceful black-and-white comics that apply a childlike sensibility to the bleak lowlights of recent Iranian history. . . . [Her] style is powerful; it persuasively communicates confusion and horror through the eyes of a precocious preteen.” —Village Voice

Praise for Persepolis: Volume 2

"Wildly charming ... Like a letter from a friend, in this case a wonderful friend: honest, strong-willed, funny, tender, impulsive, and self-aware."
—The New York Times Book Review

"The most original coming-of-age story from the Middle East yet."
—People

"Elegant, simple panels tell this story of growth, loneliness, and homecoming with poignant charm and wit."
—The Washington Post

"Humorous and heartbreaking ... A welcome look beind the headlines and into the heart and mind of one very wise, wicked, and winning young woman."
—Elle

"Every revolution needs a chronicler like Satrapi."
—San Francisco Chronicle

"It is our good fortune that Satrapi has never stopped visiting Iran in her mind."
—Newsweek

"Persepolis 2 is much more than the chronicle of a young woman’s struggle into adulthood; it’s a brilliant, painful, rendering of the contrast between East and West, between the repression of wartime Iran and the social, political, and sexual freedoms of 1980’s Austria. There’s something universal about Satrapi’s search for self-definition, but her experiences in Vienna and Tehran are rendered with such witty particularity, and such heartbreaking honesty, that by the end of this book you’ll feel you’ve gained an intimate friend."
—Julie Orringer, author of How To Breathe Underwater

MARJANE SATRAPI was born in Rasht, Iran. She now lives in Paris, where she is a regular contributor to magazines and newspapers throughout the world, including The New Yorker and The New York Times. She is the author of Persepolis, Persepolis 2, Embroideries, Chicken with Plums, and several children's books. She cowrote and codirected the animated feature film version of Persepolis, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Her most recent film was a live-action version of Chicken with Plums. View titles by Marjane Satrapi

Editor of PERSEPOLIS on Bringing Graphic Novel to United States | Building a Book

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