Persepolis: The Story Of A Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

Marjane Satrapi’s critically acclaimed autobiographical graphic novels Persepolis: The Story Of A Childhood and Persepolis 2: The Story Of A Return which describe her childhood in revolutionary Iran and her adolescence in Europe are funny, wise and heart wrenching. They where adapted into an animated film of the same name, which debuted at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival in May 2007 and shared a Special Jury Prize. The film was written and directed by Satrapi with Vincent Paronnaud and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature,but lost to Ratatouille. “Persepolis was initially banned in Lebanon after some clerics found it to be "offensive to Iran and Islam." The ban was later revoked after an outcry in Lebanese intellectual and political circles”

Franny And Zooey by J.D. Salinger

The author of Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger died in late January of the current year. His death revived discussions of the film adaptations of his work, amongst which, an Iranian adaptation Pari by director Darius Mehrjui which was released in 1995. Although the characters and their circumstances are tweaked to fit into a modern day Iran Fanny’s spiritual dilemma and Zooey’s (her brother) journey are intact. A few clips of the film are available for screening on the following link.

Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas

This memoir chronicles the author’s move from Iran to America in 1971, when her father was sent to California on a two year contract with the National Iranian Oil Company. In short, funny sketches  Dumas describes the family’s struggle to adapt and the Americans’ complete ignorance of Iranian culture. Iranian-American actor and mega-comedian, Maz Jobrani,part of the Axis of Evil group,  is set to star in ABC’s first Iranian-American comedy pilot based on Firoozeh Dumas’s book.

Women Without Men: A Novel of Modern Iran by Shahrnush Parsipur

Women Without Men: A Novel of Modern Iran tells the story of 5 iranian women: a prostitute, two unmarried women, a housewife, and a teacher. Each in her own way faces oppression, and all come to seek solace in the same garden located in Karaj, near Tehran. Shirin Neshat, the director of the film, was made aware of this novella, written in Farsi by another exiled woman, Shahrnush Parsipur , by a friend. She then sought out  the now 60 year old writer and convinced her to let her make a film adaptation. A clip of the film as well as a more detailed account of Shirin Neshat’s experience is available for screening on the following link: http://www.ascmag.com/blog/2009/09/19/shirin-neshat-iranian-filmmaker/ and a book entitled Shirin Neshat, offers a good look into her photography art.

My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad

This coming of age novel by Iranian author Iraj Pezeshkzad was first published in 1973. In 1976 the novel was made into a TV series by director Nasser Taghvai. Both have been banned since the revolution. The stroy take place during the occupation of Iran by the allied forces in World War II. The book digs into the Iranian belief that the english are responsible for everything that happens in Iran. Azar Nafisi called it “a testament to the complexity, vitality, and flexibility of Iranian culture and society".