Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

Hi Bee Members! This month we'll be reading "Martyr!" by Kaveh Akbar. I came across this book plenty of times during best seller lists and personal recommendations from an assortment of friends. I was told that this book is great for those with a current reading slump, to help get you back into the love of reading.

You're welcome to attend even if you haven't quite finished the book, as long as you don't mind spoilers being discussed. Attendees should generally expect to order something to eat or drink.

Here's a description of the book:

A newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, guided by the voices of artists, poets, and kings, embarks on a remarkable search for a family secret that leads him to a terminally ill painter living out her final days in the Brooklyn Museum. Electrifying, funny, and wholly original, Martyr! heralds the arrival of an essential new voice in contemporary fiction.

Cyrus Shams is a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss: his mother’s plane was shot down over the skies of the Persian Gulf in a senseless accident; and his father’s life in America was circumscribed by his work killing chickens at a factory farm in the Midwest. Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet, whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past—toward an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the angel of death to inspire and comfort the dying, and toward his mother, through a painting discovered in a Brooklyn art gallery that suggests she may not have been who or what she seemed.

Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr! is a paean to how we spend our lives seeking meaning—in faith, art, ourselves, others.

Rated: 4.19 on Goodreads

If you're not interested in being the organizer but you'd like to host a one-time meeting, it's easy! Just pick a book, a date, and a venue, and commit to attending! Message the organizer to find out more. Don't be shy: We have over 2,000+ members, so there are sure to be a few people who want to read whatever book you're excited about. We're always looking for hosts to help keep the book club vibrant!