In preparation for the next Bushwick event, Original Music Inspired by Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, I read the Complete Persepolis. It left me wanting to know even about Marjane Satrapi’s life. Those of you who have read Persepolils know that it tackles some serious stuff. But does a softer, sillier side of Satrapi exist?
I took to the Internet to find out. Here are a few fun facts I discovered about Marjane Satrapi.
I have a confession; I really disliked The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I finished it, but it was a struggle. I know it’s a Pulitzer Prize winner and is critically acclaimed receiving positive reviews from everyone who matters. There have been other important and popular works that I couldn’t finish including Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections, which I hated so much I haven’t been able to pick up any of his other work, and 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. I fear that these two books will someday be a Bushwick Book Club Seattle selection and I’ll have to attempt to read them again.
My opinion on these well-known great novels says more about me and my lowbrow taste than it does about the novels themselves. It got me thinking.
Do other people secretly despise famous award winners?
I asked this very question to many Bushwick artists and volunteers and here is what they had to say.
The main themes of Persepolis, family and revolution, stuck out to me as I picked my favorite quotes from Marjane Satrapi’s work. Those that I connected with the most revolve around Satrapi wanting to change both the world and herself through reading and education and being inspired by her family’s struggles. She looks to her Grandma and other loved ones for her ideas on politics and revolution and for reasons why she wants to change her world.
The Bookshelf Report is an ongoing series where a Bushwick reader gives us a tour of the books that occupy their shelves.
Chris Estey is a music journalist/super fan operating out of Seattle. He has written for the likes of City Arts, The Rocket, Seattle Weekly and the Stranger, to name a few. Plus, I’m sure you have seen him at a rock show or two over the years. Chris now runs Big Freak Media, a Seattle-based publicity/marketing firm devoted to artists, writers and music makers.
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