Molly Crabapple

This was a very accessible if difficult memoir. The most interesting parts were the beginning of the Civil War — the protests against Assad and the emergence of all the different rebel camps arrayed against him and against themselves — and of Hisham's time working at the cybercafe in Raqqa, serving ISIS soldiers. It was written well, in an open-faced, approachable way, drifting between his past life as a child growing up under Assad's regime, to his life as a student in Aleppo, to his friendships with fighters, to his struggles to survive in one of the most chaotic and dangerous milieus in modern times. It felt like a gentle, deeply human introduction to the past decade of turmoil in Syria. The pictures were beautiful and haunting, as well. I wish I could've read this in the flesh!… (mais)

I had only heard of Crabapple's book through "The Great Discontent." I had never heard of her previously, but when I saw her memoir at the library, I immediately checked it out. She really lets herself have it. She is brutally honest about herself and it made me really want to get to know more about her. She also includes a lot of her art work in the book (with full color). (I hadn't been reading for pleasure very long, her artwork made the chapters seem shorter - which helped my mind out.) After reading this, I became a huge fan. If I'd already known about her, this book would have just made me have more respect for her and her work in general. I would definitely recommend this to anyone.… (mais)