The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East #4
In *The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East #4*, Riad Sattouf continues his vivid, unflinching memoir as his father’s pilgrimage to Mecca ignites a radical shift in his beliefs—deepening into a rigid piety that strains the family’s already fragile dynamics. Amid the ordinary trials of adolescence—awkward haircuts, teenage crushes, and acne—Riad watches helplessly as his parents’ marriage fractures, culminating in a shocking act of abandonment when his father takes their youngest brother, Fadi, away. With raw honesty and striking visuals, Riad Sattouf, who handles every aspect of the interior art and colors, crafts a deeply personal story of displacement and growing up in a world upended by ideology. The cover, also by Sattouf, captures the emotional weight of the moment with quiet precision.
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Riad's father visits Mecca and becomes newly-pious (and increasingly racist). While Riad goes through typical adolescent troubles with haircuts, pimples and feelings for girls, his parents' marriage becomes stormy. Finally his father abandons the family and kidnaps Fadi, Riad's youngest brother.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).