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Media Resources

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi marks several firsts for LSU’s Summer Reading Program now in its fifth year.  Most strikingly, it’s a graphic memoir combining text and black and white sequential art to relate the story of growing up in revolutionary Iran.  It’s also the first selection to focus on the Middle East, the first to be created by a woman author and artist, and the first to be transformed into an animated film, allowing students to compare and contrast reading and viewing experiences and to discuss the connections and tension between visual and verbal literacies.

The memoir tells of Satrapi’s struggles growing up in Tehran during the turbulent Islamic Revolution.  When Satrapi’s political views at school threaten her safety, her parents send her to boarding school in Vienna to escape the escalating violence.  Life is not easy for the teenager on her own, and she makes some bad decisions; she eventually returns to her country and family to encounter incredible public and private changes.  Following a brief marriage and divorce, she finally chooses a life of exile in France where she continues her studies and career.  The reader learns about her extended, loving and supportive family, her dreams, her religious beliefs, her rebellious nature, her poor judgments, and her triumphs. The memoir is at times funny, poignant, surprising, scary, honest, and sad, but always full of the Iranian author’s keen observations.

Persepolis addresses issues that will appeal to students leaving home to pursue an education; to Americans wanting to learn more about the history, religions, politics, and culture of Iran; and to readers who are curious about how visual and textual components can work together to enrich a story.

For more information, visit the LSU Summer Reading Program’s Web site at www.lsu.edu/srp. 

The site will include a discussion guide for the book that can be used by students, as well as information about the book and the Summer Reading Program.

Media Note – Copies of the book are available to media who wish to review it or who would like to write about the Summer Reading Program or cover the author’s speech at academic convocation.  Please contact Kristine Calongne at 225-578-5985 for more information.

Contact Kristine Calongne

LSU Media Relations

225-578-5985

kcalong@lsu.edu