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For release: June 1, 2009
For press information, contact Barbara Ching, 901-678-4586
Freshmen at the University of Memphis will be reading The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi this year. The graphic novel is the selection of Memphis Reads,
the University’s common reading program, in which all incoming freshmen read a designated
book during the summer. The book is required reading for certain courses and will
be the topic of discussions, lectures, and other events on campus throughout the academic
year.
The Complete Persepolis is the story of Satrapi’s childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family
in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution. It depicts the contradiction between private
life and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; her high school years
in Vienna; her homecoming, both the sweet and terrible; and finally, of her self-imposed
exile from her homeland.
“Satrapi tells us about her life growing up in revolutionary Iran, and she does this
in such a captivating format ¬– as a graphic novel,” says a reviewer. “This is a book
that you’ll have a hard time putting down. It’s captivating; you’ll find passages
that will make you laugh, and others that will make you cry. It will give students
a little foundation on Iran, a better understanding of the culture, and a better appreciation
of an area of the world that is so misunderstood.”
Everyone is invited to read the book this summer and to think of it as a point of
connection linking the community and the University of Memphis. More information is
available online at memphisreads.memphis.edu
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