Martyr!

Title:

Martyr!

Author:

Summary:

"A newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, guided by the voices of artists, poets, and kings, embarks on a search that leads him to a terminally ill painter living out her final days in the Brooklyn Museum"-- Provided by publisher.

Cyrus Shams is a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss: his mother's plane was shot down over the skies of the Persian Gulf in a senseless accident; and his father's life in America was circumscribed by his work killing chickens at a factory farm in the Midwest. Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet, whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past--toward an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the angel of death to inspire and comfort the dying, and toward his mother, through a painting discovered in a Brooklyn art gallery that suggests she may not have been who or what she seemed.

General Note:

"This is a Borzoi book." -- title page verso.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

331 pages ; 25 cm

Genre:

Psychological fiction.

Subject Term:

Alcoholism -- Fiction.

Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.) -- Fiction.

Immigrants -- Fiction.

Iranian Americans -- Fiction.

Painters -- Fiction.

Poets -- Fiction.

Terminally ill -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) -- Fiction.

Publisher:

Alfred A. Knopf,

Publication Date:

2024

ISBN:

9780593537619

Publication Information:

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2024.

Call Number:

AKBAR

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003754671	New Adult Fiction	AKBAR Kaveh	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD * A newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, guided by the voices of artists, poets, and kings, embarks on a remarkable search for a family secret that leads him to a terminally ill painter living out her final days in the Brooklyn Museum. Electrifying, funny, and wholly original , Martyr! heralds the arrival of an essential new voice in contemporary fiction.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK * A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF THE YEAR

"Kaveh Akbar is one of my favorite writers. Ever." --Tommy Orange, Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of There There

"The best novel you'll ever read about the joy of language, addiction, displacement, martyrdom, belonging, homesickness." --Lauren Groff, best-selling author of Matrix and Fates and Furies

Cyrus Shams is a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss: his mother's plane was shot down over the skies of the Persian Gulf in a senseless accident; and his father's life in America was circumscribed by his work killing chickens at a factory farm in the Midwest. Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet, whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past--toward an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the angel of death to inspire and comfort the dying, and toward his mother, through a painting discovered in a Brooklyn art gallery that suggests she may not have been who or what she seemed.

Kaveh Akbar's Martyr! is a paean to how we spend our lives seeking meaning--in faith, art, ourselves, others.

Author Notes

KAVEH AKBAR's poems appear in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Paris Review, The Best American Poetry , and elsewhere. He is the author of two poetry collections: Pilgrim Bell and Calling a Wolf a Wolf , in addition to a chapbook, Portrait of the Alcoholic . He is also the editor of The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse: 110 Poets on the Divine. He lives in Iowa City.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Poet Akbar (Calling a Wolf a Wolf) explores the allure of martyrdom in this electrifying story of a Midwestern poet struggling with addiction and grief. Cyrus Shams, an orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, is fixated on finding meaning in the deaths of his parents--his mother in a plane that was accidentally shot down by the U.S. Navy over the Persian Gulf, his father from a stroke. His obsession strains his relationships, particularly with his closest friend and roommate Zee Novak, as does his heavy drinking and drug use. Immersed in the study of martyrs throughout history, Cyrus finds focus for his project when he meets Orkideh, an older painter foregoing treatment for her terminal breast cancer, and he realizes he has an opportunity to interview a living martyr. More details would spoil the plot, which thickens when connections are revealed between Cyrus and Orkideh as well as secrets about Cyrus's family history that inform his conflicted feelings about pursuing a queer romance with Zee. Akbar deploys a range of styles with equal flair, from funny wordplay ("Maybe it was that Cyrus had done the right drugs in the wrong order, or the wrong drugs in the right order") to incisive lyricism ("An alphabet, like a life, is a finite set of shapes"). This wondrous novel will linger in readers' minds long after the final page. Agent: Jacqueline Ko, Wylie Agency. (Jan.)Correction: An earlier version of this review misidentified where the main character is from.

Library Journal Review

Poet Cyrus Shams has a fascination with meaningful death. His mother died on a plane shot down over the Persian Gulf by the U.S. military (an accident for which they never apologized), and his father's was just as sudden and senseless. Now, pushing 30 with a "useless" English degree, Cyrus conceives of a book on martyrs that he hopes will give his life purpose. Leaving his Indiana college town to see, as part of research for the book, a Brooklyn artist's final installation--comprised of daily conversations about death as she dies of cancer--proves fateful, forging a connection that Cyrus could not have foreseen. Far from grim, Iranian American poet Akbar's (Pilgrim Bell) first novel suspends moments of offbeat humor in fluid lyricality as the narrative focus alternates among Cyrus, his lovelorn roommate Zee, and his mother's and father's pasts in Iran and the United States, uncovering meaning in their shared existence. Iranian American actor Arian Moayed flawlessly matches his narration to the text. Whether voicing Cyrus's shifting moods--worsened by his recent sobriety and a comically awful AA meeting--or an imaginary Lisa Simpson, he meets each challenge with skillful use of cadence and tone, for an unbroken listening experience. VERDICT This debut novel takes on existential uncertainty with wit and compassion. The pitch-perfect narration makes it highly recommended in audio.--Lauren Kage