Chicken with Plums

Acclaimed graphic artist Marjane Satrapi brings what has become her signature humor and insight, her keen eye and ear, to the heartrending story of a celebrated Iranian musician who gives up his life for music and love.

When Nasser Ali Khan, the author’s great-uncle, discovers that his beloved instrument is irreparably damaged, he takes to his bed, renouncing the world and all its pleasures. Over the course of the week that follows, we are treated to vivid scenes of his encounters with family and friends, flashbacks to his childhood, and flash-forwards to his children’s future. And as the pieces of his story fall into place, we begin to understand the breadth of his decision to let go of life.

The poignant story of one man, it is also stunningly universal—a luminous tale of life and death, and the courage and passion both require of us.

“Chicken with Plums is a feast you’ll devour.” —Newsweek
“It’s amazing to see how much complexity and narrative cunning Satrapi crams into her images . . . Chicken with Plums is the most intricately laminated of her tales: The author shuffles past, present, and future like a cardsharp.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Beguiling . . . Completely seamless.” —The Boston Globe

“Satrapi pushes the boundaries of her work further still . . . [She is] an Iranian Colette.” —San Francisco Chronicle


“Satrapi’s deceptively simple, remarkably powerful drawings match the precise but flexible prose she employs in adapting to her multiple roles as educator, folklorist, and grand-niece.” —The New Yorker