The Arab of the Future 4

The gripping fourth installment of the award-winning graphic memoir series chronicles Riad Sattouf’s adolescence, as he navigates family, culture, and religion.

In The Arab of the Future 4, Riad is now a teenager, and his life is more complicated than ever. His father, Adbel-Razak, has left to work in Saudi Arabia and becomes increasingly religious after a pilgrimage to Mecca. Fed up with the harsh conditions of Abdel-Razak’s impoverished village and the lack of women’s rights, Riad’s mother Clementine returns with the children to France—until Abdel-Razak unexpectedly reappears to drag the family on yet another journey.

Riad faces both universal struggles like bullies at school and deeply personal challenges like his mother’s sudden illness and the judgment of his religious relatives. As Abdel-Razak becomes more unhinged in his fantastical pursuits, a dramatic breaking point emerges between idealism and fanaticism.

Filled with gripping storytelling and lush visuals that have earned Sattouf numerous awards, The Arab of the Future 4 continues the peripatetic saga of the Sattouf family across France and the Middle East. This exquisitely illustrated, irresistible memoir is a must-read for fans of graphic novels and coming-of-age stories alike.