Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

This angsty, strongly autobiographical, highly original novel infused with poetic language centers around Cyrus Shams, an Iranian young man who loses his mother in a plane crash caused by the firing of a missile from a U.S. naval carrier (a real life event). Cyrus subsequently grows up in America, as his father takes a job to escape Iran by working at a chicken farm in the Midwest.

Cyrus emerges in his 20’s resentful, alienated, and obsessed with martyrs. He’s a poet, a barely recovered addict, and alienated from his father. He makes money by pretending to be a dying patient in a hospital to help train new doctors, and relishes tormenting and judging them. His martyr obsession echoes his own depression and suicidal thoughts, and spiraling thoughts about death. Cyrus obsesses about what elevates a person’s suffering into an event of historic proportions. As part of his quest, Cyrus travels to New York to meets an Iranian artist who as part of her last show has inhabited a Brooklyn museum, talking with visitors about dying.

Having lost both my parents in a Pan Am plane crash in my teens, I could relate to Cyrus’ existential crises, as he tries to imbue both his Mom’s life with meaning, as well as wrestle with his orphanhood. Like Cyrus, my parents decided to leave my brother and I at home, though they had thought of taking us with them to visit relatives in New Zealand. The profound scars of loss and the quest for higher meaning reverberate for Cyrus throughout his adulthood without easy answers.

Thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.