In her acclaimed Persepolis books and in Embroideries , Marjane Satrapi rendered the events of her life and times in a uniquely captivating and powerful voice and vision. Now she turns that same keen eye and ear to the heartrending story of her great-uncle, a celebrated Iranian musician who gave up his life for music and love.

We are in Tehran in 1958, and Nasser Ali Khan, one of Iran’s most revered tar players, discovers that his beloved instrument is irreparably damaged. Though he tries, he cannot find one to replace it, one whose sound speaks to him with the same power and passion with which his music speaks to others. In despair, he takes to his bed, renouncing the world and all its pleasures, closing the door on the demands and love of his wife and his four children. Over the course of the week that follows, his family and close friends attempt to change his mind, but Nasser Ali slips further and further into his own reveries: flashbacks and flash-forwards (with unexpected appearances by the likes of the Angel of Death and Sophia Loren) from his own childhood through his children’s futures. And as the pieces of his story slowly fall into place, we begin to understand the profundity of his decision to give up life.

Marjane Satrapi brings what has become her signature humor, insight, and generosity to this emotional tale of life and death, and the courage and passion both require of us. The poignant story of one man, it is also a story of stunning universality–and an altogether luminous work.

瑪贊·莎塔碧，伊朗圖像小說作傢、插圖畫傢。1969年生於伊朗拉什特，是王室後裔。莎塔碧在童年經曆瞭伊朗政局的變化和兩伊戰爭。14歲時，父母為瞭讓她能夠脫離伊朗的環境，將她送到奧地利維也納繼續學業，後又迴到伊朗繼續上大學。大學期間，莎塔碧曾經曆瞭一場短暫的婚姻，一年後離婚。 她在德黑蘭Azad大學獲得視覺交流的碩士學位。此後，她移居法國斯特拉斯堡，成為一名插圖畫傢和兒童書籍作傢，現定居巴黎。