Cyrus Shams is drifting in his college town in Indiana. His mother died when he was a baby; her commercial plane was shot down by an American warship. Cyrus and his father, Ali, immigrate from Iran to Fort Wayne, where Ali breaks himself working on a chicken farm. Cyrus writes poetry, but mostly he struggles with substance abuse and wonders whether it’s worth being alive. He becomes obsessed with the idea of martyrdom, starts writing a book about it. When he hears of an artist, Orkideh, whose final exhibition consists of her talking to visitors as she dies of cancer in a museum, Cyrus travels to New York to speak with her.

The novel is told unconventionally. It moves back and forth through time, covering Cyrus’s childhood and his mother’s life. It zips through dream sequences featuring characters like Lisa Simpson. Poems from Cyrus’s book appear between chapters. Akbar’s prose is lyrical, both wry and earnest. Leaning into horrors is a way to explore big questions about violence, duty, art, faith, love. Akbar searches unironically for the meaning of life.

I’ve read and liked Kaveh Akbar’s poetry, but I was unprepared for what this novel would do to me—and yet, perfectly primed by living my life. So many times and in so many ways, it stabbed right at my soul. The university town is a fictional version of my hometown, and Akbar’s details were uncomfortably close. More broadly, he captures the particular Midwestern sadness that came with looking a certain way in Indiana in the 2000s.

About four-fifths of the way through, I read one of the most perfect chapters of a novel I have ever read, and the novel ascended onto a higher plane. I don’t want to spoil anything. But I will say, the soul of this book is vast and generous. Ultimately, life always has meaning. We are never really alone. I left this book feeling so completely grateful to be alive. It is a book for defiant aliveness.

I know that this one has been on many highly anticipated lists, but I'm not quite sure that I'm on the same page as those lists. "Martyr!" by Kaveh Akbar left me perplexed. The narrative follows Cyrus Shams, a young man entangled in a legacy of violence and loss. His mother's plane crash and his father's life working in a chicken factory seem disconnected. Cyrus, a drunk, addict, and poet, fixates on martyrs, leading to a confusing exploration of his past. The mention of an uncle dressed as the angel of death and a mysterious painting adds layers of complexity without clear connections. Akbar's prose, while poetic, leaves readers grappling with disjointed elements, making "Martyr!" an enigmatic journey that raises more questions than it answers.

Thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, Knopf for the advanced reader copy to review via NetGalley.

Martyr!
By Kaveh Akbar

This is the story of a young man, Cyrus Shams, Iranian by birth, but raised from an early age in the American Midwest. Cyrus is a would-be poet and writer. He is also addicted to multitudinous drugs and alcohol. He is 29 years old and just sort of drifting through life.

His back story is: his mother was killed when the plane she was in was accidentally shot down by an American battleship; his father died suddenly while he Cyrus was away at college; and his only other relative, Uncle Arash, lives in Iran, a survivor of the Iran-Iraq war with severe PTSD. He is effectively alone in the world.

Cyrus is obsessed with dying a meaningful death. When he finds out that a celebrated artist who is dying of cancer has decided to make what remains of her life meaningful by living in a museum where she speaks with anyone who wants to hear what she has to say, he decides to go speak to her.

After this meeting he chooses to write a book about martyrs who have died for a good reason – and decides to end the book with his own death. From this point on the story just gets more bizarre.

I found the book to be quirky and in some ways hard to follow. It is definitely different! If you don't mind working for it, the story can be worth the journey.

Great writing, but the story and style ending up not being for me. Thanks for the ARC! Our library did choose to purchase a copy. Being located in an Iowa public library, we try to support our Iowa based authors!

The story of an Iranian immigrant who is a poet and recovering addict that becomes fixated on the idea of martyrs and assigning value to his life and death. Absolutely stunning prose that blew my mind but the storytelling was too disjointed to fully grasp me. I’d still recommend this for the writing alone.

This beautifully written debut is the story of an Iranian-American who is dealing with loss and trauma. As a young child, he lost his mom when her plane was shot down by US military over Tehran and his dad recently passed away from a stroke after a life working on a chicken farm in Indiana. The story is told in the first person by this young man, who is a recovering addict/alcoholic. He has a goal of writing a book about martyrs to make sense of his past while exploring the possibility of becoming a martyr himself. It's not as depressing as it sounds--there is a lot of humor sprinkled in here as he explores his goal-- and the writing is something to be savored. And how about that ending?! I fully expect this one to be at the top of many best of 2024!

The main character, Cyrus, was fixated with finding meaning in life or in death. His Iranian mother was shot down in a passenger plane by the US. His father moved them to the US where he toiled 6 days a week in a chicken factory to pay for Cyrus’ education. Cyrus was newly sober and wanted to make sure his life or death was significant. He obsessed over martyrdom. The first half of the book moved very slowly for me but picked up when he went to NYC. The book reminded me a lot of the storyline of Pippin. In the end, love wins out.

I have to say the first half of this book was a slog for me. Plot wise nothing much happens until you are almost finished. Cyrus is a lost soul, obsessed with his own death- except first he wants to figure out how to die a martyr. I kinda wanted to just slap him. But as the book develops and we get more information the seemingly disjointed parts do come together. Cyrus does grow as a person. If you can stick with it you will be rewarded.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Omg. I am obsessed and thankful to Knopf Books, Kaveh Akbar, PRH Audio, and Netgalley for granting me advanced digital, physical, and audio access to this bittersweet novel about generational trauma, growth, and family. Martyr! hits shelves on January 23, 2024, and I can't wait for the hype to come.

Cyrus Shams is fresh to the sober scene and finds he's struggling to find his place in the world, he decides to embrace his writing journey and his familial history from its origins in Tehran and beyond until he stumbles upon an art exhibit of a dying Iranian woman in Brooklyn and decides to journey out east to interview this brave woman for his prose.

Throughout this journey, he learns a great amount about where he comes from, and even a bit about this mysterious woman and her origins as well. The subject of Cyrus's book is Martyrs and their existence throughout history and familial units, assuming that this woman makes the perfect subject for his novel, but what he comes to find out, will spoil and alter his intentions for worse and for the best.

Martyr! is about GROWTH and acceptance and forgiveness and I wish I could read this book all over again to get a taste of that bittersweet fruit.

I loved this more than I anticipated, and it is a must-read in my opinion! The prose was beautiful, and lyrical at times- no surprise there. Akbar takes the reader on Cyrus' journey of self-discovery using razor-sharp insight and humor. His family saga encapsulates all the turmoil of his generation. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for this ARC!

This novel was trying a little too hard to entertain me while on its way to trying a little to hard to say something profound to me. I was dazzled, then confused, and then made irritable. It was one of those "so much brazen talent, but..." sorts of reads for me, a shelf on which I also keep the works of Jeffrey Eugenides, Brett Easton Ellis, and many other writers of similar brazen talent and imagination.

I know it’s still early, but Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr! might be my favorite book I’ve read so far this year. The story centers Cyrus, an Iranian-American twentysomething poet struggling with depression and addiction. Orphaned at a young age—his dad died when Cyrus was in college, and his mom when the U.S. military shot down her plane over Iran in 1987—by the time we meet him Cyrus has become fascinated by the concept of martyrdom and decides to spin this obsession into a book. His literary journey takes him from his Midwest home to NYC, where he encounters a famous Iranian artist, dying of cancer, who has mounted a final, death-confronting performance art exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. The plot spins in many directions—we get flashbacks to Cyrus’ family in Iran, dream sequences featuring (among others) Lisa Simpson and Kareem Abdul-Jabar, and more. But the essential question of this book is profound: What does it mean to live—and die—with meaning and purpose?
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I loved so much about this book. The prose? A fascinating mix of the lyrical and the vernacular. Akbar is a poet, and there were so many passages that were arrestingly beautiful and rich with meaning; I found myself pausing often to highlight and underline (something I don’t usually do when I read fiction). The characters? Frustratingly lovable. Cyrus is such a compelling protagonist: he’s flawed and haunted, but he’s also honest, earnest, and funny. There were so many moments when I wanted to give him a hug, and so many others when I wanted to shout, “What are you doing?!?” I think his distinctive voice will stick with me for a long time. And the themes? So rich. Akbar mines history, theology, mythology, pop culture, and more as we trace Cyrus’ half-baked pursuit of martyrdom. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that the book’s conclusion is stunning—deeply human and wonderfully expansive.
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I’m so happy this book has been getting so much buzz—it deserves to be read widely!—and I can’t wait to see what Akbar will do next.

<i>Martyr!<i> centers around the life of Cyrus, a 20-something Iranian immigrant grappling with grief, sexuality, identity, and purpose. He learns of an Iranian artist, living in a museum as a final art piece as she dies from cancer. Intrigued and moved by this, he concocts the idea of writing a novel about martyrs, eventually choosing to embark on an impromptu trip to New York to meet the artist. In addition to his own voice, we get a collection of perspectives that add to Cyrus's story, though at times to detract. It felt like each of these voices could have been a separate novel unto themselves and could be, at times, a bit rushed. Cyrus's narrative was obviously the strongest, but I felt that the ending was a cobbled together pastiche of somewhat maudlin tropes, dangling precariously on the precipice of overt cheesiness.

<i>Martyr!<i> is an ambitious book by a promising writer. It's evident from the way it's written that Akbar's true home is within poetry, which certainly adds flavor to this story. He's able to imbue this story with some fairly accessible insights into existential inquiry, yet this is at the expense of plot. For starting off as strongly as it did, I was disappointed by the somewhat deus ex machina ending. Perhaps if this book was expanded to include more background on some of the side narratives it would've been a full 5/5 for me, but for now, I think this is a strong 4/5 stars. Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for an ARC of this lovely novel.

The novel read like pure poetry, always wading and diving into the next big reveal. Cyrus Shams is the main character, but it is the people who care most for him that are the true stars. Ali Shams sacrifices so much for his child and all of his struggle is often overlooked by Cyrus which is the story of every parent's life. Cyrus truly appreciates him long after he is gone, so I am glad he can just realize it in the end. Roya and Layla's love story was so short and sweet and yet once you see what Roya herself has sacrificed only for it to blow up in her face, this is the true great tragedy.

I was rooting for Zee and Orkideh and Cyrus all throughout and just wanted them to be okay together. The moments where I was a bit confused, I understood it as I can take the text to be my own interpretation of what is happening. Cyrus seems to dream all the time even though he barely sleeps. His dreams are important to him because this gives him purpose and I respect that about him. Cyrus being able to see his mom in his dreams and try to find the connection they had is really beautiful and by the ending, I can understand his frustration for someone who never was who he thought they would be.

Kaveh did an amazing job of interpreting phrases for the general audience and educating us about the way the Iranian people obsess over death and lead their lives, that I grew to understand and sympathize with their culture. The main lesson I took from the book was that all people have inner conflicts they struggle with and can be their own worst enemy if they let it. Surrounding yourself with people who want to see you thrive is the key to your own personal success. This was a very important lesson indeed and needs to be talked about more since we deal with so much depression and anxiety nowadays.

A huge thank you to Kaveh Akbar, Net Galley and Knopf for the ARC, the opinions expressed here are my own.

“we’ve been training for a long time in sitting in the complicated multiplicities of ourselves, of our natures.”

Kaveh Akbar’s debut novel of Martyr! is one of the most electrifying, profound, and insane pieces of literature i have consumed in a long time. Akbar beautifully interweaves timelines, perspectives, poetry, and excerpts from the main characters artistic pursuits to keep you guessing and hungry for more. It felt so very human.

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing an advanced copy through Netgalley.

Good writing and an interesting story idea, but not much of a plot and I found it a bit difficult at times.

This is a book that explores a lot of thing and does so in a very contemporary manner, which always gives me extra pause when it comes to review time!

Cyrus is a young man at a crucial time in his life. He’s at the intersection of addiction, thoughts of self harm, the loss of his father, the old grief of the early loss of his mother, sexuality, and trying to figure out the meaning of life. These themes are explored through a then-and-now storyline that not only leaps through time, but occasionally other characters as well. Although this can feel a bit jumbled, I think it did more harm than good by giving life and context to the people and feelings Cyrus is so deeply contemplating and letting them speak for themselves.

The plot kept my attention the whole time, and I was very anxious to see Cyrus safely on the other side if his story, despite my concerns on how he would get there! What I wasn’t prepared for was the ending. It is one of those endings that you know has a significant intellectual and philosophical meaning. However, your brain clearly was not meant to process that level of complexity and you are just left scratching your head! I’m not sure how I would write the perfect ending to this book, but for me personally what made it to the final copy of the book was not it in my opinion.

3.75⭐️ For an extremely unique book that will no doubt facilitate fantastic discussion amongst book lovers!

This novel centers around Cyrus, a poet who becomes obsessed with martyrs. this obsession leads him into his past.

I normally like more satirical books, but I couldn’t get into this one. I think it was the structure more than plot that made this not as good for me.

Martyr! is a beautifully written, dark, introspective and a window into the Iranian culture via the multiple perspectives of Cyrus Shams and his family. That said, I can't say the reading experience was enjoyable or uplifting. The themes of drug addiction, martyrdom, family tragedy and a pervasive obsession with death weighed heavily on my psyche. There is a satisfying twist at the end providing closure.

A Symphony of Loss and Language: A Review of "Martyr!"
Kaveh Akbar's "Martyr!" is more than just a novel; it's a symphony of loss, identity, and the transformative power of art. Cyrus Shams, our protagonist, navigates a minefield of grief - the sudden loss of his mother, the suffocating expectations of his immigrant father, and his own battles with addiction. Yet, amidst the wreckage, Cyrus finds solace in the echoes of poets, kings, and the enigmatic voices that guide him on a quest for understanding.

Akbar's prose is a revelation. He wields language with the precision of a surgeon and the passion of a poet, weaving together Cyrus's internal struggles with vibrant historical threads and the hushed reverence of museum halls. The Brooklyn Museum becomes a sanctuary, housing not just art, but the ghosts of Cyrus's past and the potential for redemption.

The novel shines in its exploration of faith and fanaticism. Cyrus grapples with the concept of martyrdom, dissecting its allure and dangers through the lens of his family's history and his own artistic impulses. The tension between devotion and destruction, creation and annihilation, hums throughout the narrative, keeping the reader perpetually engaged.

Akbar doesn't shy away from the grittier aspects of Cyrus's journey. His addiction casts a long shadow, its physical and emotional toll palpable on every page. But even in the depths of despair, there's a glimmer of hope - a testament to the human spirit's resilience and the capacity for self-discovery, even in the face of overwhelming odds.

"Martyr!" is not just a coming-of-age story; it's a testament to the power of art to heal, to connect, and to illuminate the darkest corners of our existence. It's a novel that will linger long after the final page is turned, leaving you pondering the complexities of family, faith, and the enduring legacy of loss.