A first-time author delivers the most powerful and relevant nonfiction graphic novel since Joe Sacco's Safe Area Gorazde. Marjane Satrapi was the child of radical Marxists who helped overthrow the Shah of Iran, and this is her memoir, in comics form, of her struggles with the rise of Islamic Revolution as a young girl and teenager. Begun in 1999, long before the events of Sept. 11th, 2001, cast a collective world eye to the Middle East, Persepolis was first published last year in French and became an instant critical and commercial smash for L'Association, a well-respected but relatively small comics press in Paris.L'Association was prepared for Persepolis's critical success: Satrapi's first-person familial account makes a complex history accessible to outsiders, similar to Art Spiegelman's work, and her use of the comics form humanizes and gives immediate form to her life in a way few other prose books can. Persepolis's commercial success was less expected when published early last year, but in light of the worldwide attention on women's rights issues in the Middle East post-Sept. 11th, the book has taken on a life of its own and quickly sold out of 20,000 copies faster than they could be printed.