---
product_id: 34006413
title: "The Arab of the Future 2: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985: A Graphic Memoir"
price: "¥7068"
currency: JPY
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.jp/products/34006413-the-arab-of-the-future-2-a-childhood-in-middle
store_origin: JP
region: Japan
---

# The Arab of the Future 2: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985: A Graphic Memoir

**Price:** ¥7068
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** The Arab of the Future 2: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985: A Graphic Memoir
- **How much does it cost?** ¥7068 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.jp](https://www.desertcart.jp/products/34006413-the-arab-of-the-future-2-a-childhood-in-middle)

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## Description

The Arab of the Future 2: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985: A Graphic Memoir [Sattouf, Riad] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Arab of the Future 2: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985: A Graphic Memoir

Review: Brilliant self history - I enjoyed all these "graphic novels" so much. I read them all and am in the process of reading the fifth in the original French because it hasn't been translated yet. Great insight into the life of a Syrian whos mother is French and moves back and forth between the worlds of Islamic schools and France. Entertaining and educational.
Review: Loved by my 8 to 14 yo kids - I bought it after listening to an interview with the author on France24. My 8 to 14 year olds absolutely love the series and avidly read them all.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #842,992 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #493 in Biographies & History Graphic Novels #508 in Emigrants & Immigrants Biographies #988 in Educational & Nonfiction Graphic Novels |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars (232) |
| Dimensions  | 6.45 x 0.68 x 9.32 inches |
| Edition  | First Edition |
| ISBN-10  | 1627793518 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-1627793513 |
| Item Weight  | 1.06 pounds |
| Language  | English |
| Part of Series  | The Arab of the Future |
| Print length  | 160 pages |
| Publication date  | September 20, 2016 |
| Publisher  | Metropolitan Books |

## Images

![The Arab of the Future 2: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985: A Graphic Memoir - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81QxUaKlSrL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Brilliant self history
*by E***D on April 21, 2023*

I enjoyed all these "graphic novels" so much. I read them all and am in the process of reading the fifth in the original French because it hasn't been translated yet. Great insight into the life of a Syrian whos mother is French and moves back and forth between the worlds of Islamic schools and France. Entertaining and educational.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Loved by my 8 to 14 yo kids
*by P***O on February 24, 2025*

I bought it after listening to an interview with the author on France24. My 8 to 14 year olds absolutely love the series and avidly read them all.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fascinating, but sometimes unsettling
*by D***K on June 22, 2017*

A continuation of Riad Sattouf's graphic memoir of childhood. In this installment, which covers Riad at ages 6 - 7, the Sattouf family--Riad, his parents, and his baby brother--are living in a small Syrian village near Homs, where his grandmother lives as well as a number of other relatives (it almost seems as if everyone nearby is a cousin, aunt, or uncle). Riad starts school, and many scenes are set there, where corporal punishment--delivered with something that looks like a truncheon, generally as a THWACK! across the hands--is arbitrary and commonplace, and much of the education seems to be pure indoctrination. For instance, as Riad recounts it, the very first lesson is learning the national anthem ("Defenders of the Homeland, peace be with you...The home of pan-Arabism, a sacred sanctuary...Our spirit is noble and our past glorious, and our martyrs' souls are our guardians...."), and before a presidential election, the class is told, "we must all say yes to our president Hafez Al-Assad [father of the current president, Bashar Al-Assad]...So you must tell your parents to vote yes, of course, because President Assad is the father of the Syrian nation." Riad afterwards reports, capturing his childhood innocence, "On February 10, 1985, Hafez Al-Assad was reelected with a 100-percent yes vote, a world record!" Assad, by the way, was the only candidate. There are other memories of these schooldays--some that seem quite ordinary and pleasant; others that will likely strike readers as much darker (e.g., playing at war against Israel, with cries of "Let's kill as many Jews as we can!...Yaay! All the Jews are dead!"). And there are many scenes set at home, where Riad's love and respect for his father are quite evident, but where he seems not to fully sense the magnitude of the tension between his French-born mother and his father, educated in France and with seemingly ambivalent feelings about traditional and modern values. The mother is generally in the background in this story, but when she emerges--for instance, immediately and forcefully condemning the honor killing of a unwed village woman who became pregnant, while Riad's father vacillates about reporting the crime--it seems apparent that conflicts are going to be a larger part of the story going forward. Another telling scene takes place late in the book when on a summer vacation in France to visit his grandparents, Riad visits the Euromarche, a superstore along the lines, I suppose, of a Target. He is overwhelmed by the selection toys, electronics, groceries, etc, and he concludes, "For me, it was the best place on earth." This is in contrast to the fact that when his father wants to purchase some luxuries for the home (to his mother, necessities, like a gas oven), he has to resort to the black market, where goods are smuggled in from Lebanon. During the same trip to get the oven, he also happily buys a VCR--a Betamax. Ulp. Book 3 in this series was published in France in Oct 2016 but will apparently not be available in the US until Aug 2018. I look forward to it!

## Frequently Bought Together

- Metropolitan Books The Arab of the Future 2: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985: A Graphic Memoir
- The Arab of the Future: A Graphic Memoir

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*Product available on Desertcart Japan*
*Store origin: JP*
*Last updated: 2026-03-08*