Nylon Road : A Graphic Memoir of Coming of Age in Iran

by Bashi

• ISBN13: 9780312532864
• ISBN10: 0312532865
• Edition: Original
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-11-10
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Summary

In the tradition of graphic memoirs such as Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, comes the story of a young Iranian woman's struggles with growing up under Shiite Law, her journey into adulthood, and the daughter whom she had to leave behind when she left Iran. NYLON ROAD is a window into the soul of a culture that we are still struggling to understand. Beautifully told, poignant, this is a powerful work about the necessity of freedom. Parsua Bashi was born in 1966 in Teheran, and her work has been displayed in various exhibitions and has received many awards. She has lived in Zurich since 2004. Nylon Road is her first graphic novel. In the tradition of graphic memoirs such as Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis , comes the story of a young Iranian woman's struggles with growing up under Shiite Law, her journey into adulthood, and the daughter whom she had to leave behind when she left Iran. Nylon Road is a window into the soul of a culture that many still struggle to understand. Beautifully told, poignant, this is a powerful work about the necessity of freedom. "What [ Nylon Road ] really reveals is how little the two cultures really know about each other, let alone being able to understand and sympathize with each other. It's an eye-opening book, particularly in the treatment of women in Iran . . . But while portraying these events from her past, Bashi also speaks up about ways in which Europeans or Americans are insensitive or unfair . . . The book is worth reading, if for no other reason than that there's very little like this, and it takes guts to describe a difficult life with such honesty and candor. If everyone had access to more books like Nylon Road , then perhaps we would have an easier time taking somebody else's perspective into account."'” Jonathan Liu, Wired "[ Nylon Road ] exposes many of the harsh realities of life in Iran, particularly for women, but also tempers it with a European perspective. Bashi's book will inevitably draw comparisons to Persepolis (and indeed, Bashi references and acknowledges a debt to Persepolis ), but it's a quite different book . . . Much of Nylon Road takes place in the present, after Bashi left Iran for Switzerland. She had been living in Zurich since 2004, and had been feeling dissatisfied with her situation . . . Then she started seeing various incarnations of her past selves, beginning with herself at age six . . . At age sixteen, fearful of the Iran-Iraq War; at age 35, super-patriotic and contemptuous of Arabs and religious laws; at age 23, rushing into a marriage that turned out badly . . . Her younger self couldn't believe her present self was going to dinner parties, talking about brand names or recipes. Or at another age, she might be shocked by the way Europeans dressed, or photos in a magazine. But her present self would set about defending her current lifestyle, and between the two the reader gets the benefit of a more balanced perspective. What it really reveals is how little the two cultures really know about each other, let alone being able to understand and sympathize with each other. It's an eye-opening book, particularly in the treatment of women in Iran . . . But while portraying these events from her past, Bashi also speaks up about ways in which Europeans or Americans are insensitive or unfair. The artwork . . . runs the range from exaggerated expressions to more realistic portraiture . . . The book is worth reading, if for no other reason than that there's very little like this, and it takes guts to describe a difficult life with such honesty and candor. If everyone had access to more books like Nylon Road , then perhaps we would have an easier time taking somebody else's perspective into account."'” Jonathan Liu, Wired " Nylon Road takes a playful tone but covers some seriously dark material along the way . . . [Bashi] starts running into previous versions of herself all over the place, and interacts with each of them in an effort to reconcile

Author Biography

Parsua Bashi was born in 1966 in Teheran, and her work has been displayed in various exhibitions and has received many awards. She has lived in Zurich since 2004. Nylon Road is her first graphic novel. www.parsuabashi.com

 

 

Table of Contents

Advance Praise for Nylon Road:

“NYLON ROAD is an engaging and entertaining journey into Islamic Iranian culture through the eyes of young professional woman. It is a window into the transformation of Iran from a pro-western country into the abyss of Islamic totalitarianism. The writer brilliantly takes you into her life and shows you how that affected her life and makes the case for the importance of democracy and freedom.” - Brigitte Gabriel, New York Times Bestselling author of They Must Be Stopped

"Parsua Bashi is one of those compelling voices who rarely get heard in the mass media, but who can sing her poignant song loud and clear through the intimate medium of the graphic novel."

- Paul Gravett, author of Holy Sh*t! and the bestselling author Manga

“Parsua Bashi weaves personal experience with Iranian history and, without coming

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