Martyr!

A Novel

By: Kaveh Akbar

Narrated by: Arian Moayed

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • 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.

“Kaveh Akbar is one of my favorite writers. Ever.”—Tommy Orange, Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of There There

“The best novel you'll ever read about the joy of language, addiction, displacement, martyrdom, belonging, homesickness.”—Lauren Groff, best-selling author of Matrix and Fates and Furies

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.

©2024 Kaveh Akbar (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Incandescent . . . Akbar has created an indelible protagonist, haunted, searching, utterly magnetic. But it speaks to Akbar’s storytelling gifts that Martyr! is both a riveting character study and piercing family saga . . . Akbar is a dazzling writer, with bars like you wouldn't believe . . . What Akbar pulls off in Martyr! is nothing short of miraculous.”—The New York Times Book Review

“A dazzling, thrilling debut novel about identity and loss . . . Martyr! thrillingly depicts why we cobble selves from alloys of words and cultures.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“A brilliant and blisteringly alive novel about not just how we go on, but also why. Kaveh Akbar's first novel is so stunning, so wrenching, and so beautifully written that reading it for the first time, I kept forgetting to breathe. I will carry this story, and the people in it, with me for the rest of my life."—John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars

One of the best novels I have ever read/heard.

I’m in my seventies. I cannot remember a novel that has moved me more (hyperventiliating after some chapters, crying with others) while simultaneously challenging me with profound and ultimate themes regarding—no joke—the meaning of life and death and art. How Akbar moulded all of this into a novel with drama and surprise and characters to love is beyond my comprehension. The audio narration is perfect.

We live until we die

This book first caught my attention because of the cultural world it created. However, I began to personally relate more to the themes as it continued. The craftsmanship, mix of historical fiction and magic realism kept the story moving and the characters were well rounded. My most lasting takeaways, however, were the existential themes and how to manage being a fully living human until death inevitably comes. I found myself pausing and contemplating quite often while listening to the book. The narration added that special touch of being at a live performance and helped with pronunciation of words not in my vocabulary.

Best contemporary fiction read since Infinite Jest

What an immense pleasure to listen to this book. Truly a treat. A challenge and a joy. 11/10

Searching for meaning and love

The story is very well written and read, but the (author and) protagonist is lost and keeps searching for meaning, without ever finding it. His search for love, along with those of most of the other main characters, is painfully realistic for someone who has been neglected, abandoned, and warped by alcohol, drugs, and despair. The deliberately ambiguous finish is perhaps intended to offer hope, but it represents one more escape into mood altering grasping for something out of reach in the real world. Having said that, perhaps my interpretation is exactly what the author intended for his readers.

confusing but compelling

deep emotional growth in characters is revealed through out the course of novel. unique story

Beautiful

One of the most beautiful books I’ve ever encountered. Reminding me why I love to read.

Terrific, lyrical, beautiful writing

I loved this book and will be looking out for future works of his. The writing carries you quickly through adventures of a young man filled with angst trying to figure out how to make his life matter in a world that doesn’t care. I was frequently surprised, happily borne along on his journey to the surprise ending which was moving and unlike rest of book. Has shades of Garcia Marquez in best of ways. Will be reading it again. Narrator was perfect for the project. Author being a poet shows in his lyrical prose. Beautiful writing.

Brilliant writing

One could dive into the middle of a chapter and pull out almost any sentence to find a creative, quirky, insightful perspective on the human condition. It’s the perspective of a younger person, so at times it seemed exaggerated, but that’s clearly his viewpoint.

Worthy of being cited as best of 2024

This outstanding and compelling story is matched well with the vast and intricate array of voices provided by the narrator. Mx. Akbar weaves a story from documented events and includes, like accenting gems on a fine brocade, the characters’ encounters with mystical reality. The story meditates on what are unresolved and unresolvable questions and conundrums facing humans: purpose, identity, grace ( addressed with particular brilliance!), love, lose, despair, death and rebirth.
After reading it, I recommend a reader put it aside ( but not too far away) with the intention of reading it again perhaps a month later. Yes, it’s that good.

Best narrator!

Can I get all my books narrated by Arian Moayed? Please?! Simply incredible, he made the words jump off the page. I’ll listen to anything this man reads. And I’ll also read anything Kaveh Akbar writes.