Embroideries HC Marjane Satrapi Persepolis NM 1st print

Description

Embroideries Hardcover
by Marjane Satrapi (Author)

From the best–selling author of Persepolis comes this gloriously entertaining and enlightening look into the sex lives of Iranian women. Embroideries gathers together Marjane’s tough–talking grandmother, stoic mother, glamorous and eccentric aunt and their friends and neighbors for an afternoon of tea drinking and talking. Naturally, the subject turns to love, sex and the vagaries of men.

As the afternoon progresses, these vibrant women share their secrets, their regrets and their often outrageous stories about, among other things, how to fake one’s virginity, how to escape an arranged marriage, how to enjoy the miracles of plastic surgery and how to delight in being a mistress. By turns revealing and hilarious, these are stories about the lengths to which some women will go to find a man, keep a man or, most important, keep up appearances.

Full of surprises, this introduction to the private lives of some fascinating women, whose life stories and lovers will strike us as at once deeply familiar and profoundly different from our own, is sure to bring smiles of recognition to the faces of women everywhere—and to teach us all a thing or two.

“Tantalizing . . . Bold, bewitchingly humorous and politically astute . . . A cheeky and knowing peek at the loves, sexual histories and marital secrets of . . . these beautiful and seductive women.” —Elle

Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Pantheon

Embroideries is categorized as a memoir, though it’s more like a book of short stories, told by different female characters living in Iran, done in Marjane’s usual graphic novel style. Marjane and her family and a few friends are sitting down to tea to gossip after lunch while the men nap. These women relate stories about past or present relationship issues and I think that most female readers will find that they’ve done something similar with their own family or friends. I can’t really describe the plot because each little tale has it’s own – but they range from cheating husbands, old lovers, sexual experiences, marriage and more. This is definitely not a book intended for children. I found myself laughing out loud several times, especially when the women are discussing the male anatomy. As the blurb on the book says, these stories “will strike us as at once deeply familiar and profoundly different from our own” and I’m inclined to agree. I enjoyed this little book very much and would recommend it to most – as long as you have a sense of humor and don’t mind people discussing sex and the naked body.

Near mint, 1st print.