In the tradition of graphic memoirs such as Marjane Satrapi�s Persepolis, comes the story of a young Iranian woman�s struggles with growing up under Shiite Law, her journey into adulthood, and the daughter whom she had to leave behind when she left Iran. NYLON ROAD is a window into the soul of a culture that we are still struggling to understand. Beautifully told, poignant, this is a powerful work about the necessity of freedom. Parsua Bashi was born in 1966 in Teheran, and her work has been displayed in various exhibitions and has received many awards. She has lived in Zurich since 2004. Nylon Road is her first graphic novel. In the tradition of graphic memoirs such as Marjane Satrapi�s Persepolis, comes the story of a young Iranian woman�s struggles with growing up under Shiite Law, her journey into adulthood, and the daughter whom she had to leave behind when she left Iran. Nylon Road is a window into the soul of a culture that many still struggle to understand. Beautifully told, poignant, this is a powerful work about the necessity of freedom. "What [Nylon Road] really reveals is how little the two cultures really know about each other, let alone being able to understand and sympathize with each other. It�s an eye-opening book, particularly in the treatment of women in Iran . . . But while portraying these events from her past, Bashi also speaks up about ways in which Europeans or Americans are insensitive or unfair . . . The book is worth reading, if for no other reason than that there�s very little like this, and it takes guts to describe a difficult life with such honesty and candor. If everyone had access to more books like Nylon Road, then perhaps we would have an easier time taking somebody else�s perspective into account."�Jonathan Liu, Wired "[Nylon Road] exposes many of the harsh realities of life in Iran, particularly for women, but also tempers it with a European perspective. Bashi�s book will inevitably draw comparisons to Persepolis (and indeed, Bashi references and acknowledges a debt to Persepolis), but it�s a quite different book . . . Much of Nylon Road takes place in the present, after Bashi left Iran for Switzerland. She had been living in Zurich since 2004, and had been feeling dissatisfied with her situation . . . Then she started seeing various incarnations of her past selves, beginning with herself at age six . . . At age sixteen, fearful of the Iran-Iraq War; at age 35, super-patriotic and contemptuous of Arabs and religious laws; at age 23, rushing into a marriage that turned out badly . . . Her younger self couldn�t believe her present self was going to dinner parties, talking about brand names or recipes. Or at another age, she might be shocked by the way Europeans dressed, or photos in a magazine. But her present self would set about defending her current lifestyle, and between the two the reader gets the benefit of a more balanced perspective. What it really reveals is how little the two cultures really know about each other, let alone being able to understand and sympathize with each other. It�s an eye-opening book, particularly in the treatment of women in Iran . . . But while portraying these events from her past, Bashi also speaks up about ways in which Europeans or Americans are insensitive or unfair. The artwork . . . runs the range from exaggerated expressions to more realistic portraiture . . . The book is worth reading, if for no other reason than that there�s very little like this, and it takes guts to describe a difficult life with such honesty and candor. If everyone had access to more books like Nylon Road, then perhaps we would have an easier time taking somebody else�s perspective into account."�Jonathan Liu, Wired"Nylon Road takes a playful tone but covers some seriously dark material along the way . . . [Bashi] starts running into previous versions of herself all over the place, and interacts with each of them in an effort to reconcile various elements of her difficult past. It's a neat trick that lends itself well to the graphic novel treatment: we get to see Bashi as she is now talking with Bashi at 21, or at 35. In one scene, for example, one of her more argumentative former selves appears at her side during a dinner party, and Bashi locks herself into the bathroom to hash things out with her. Some of her former selves are more fun to run into than others. Bashi avoids herself at 29, for example. At that age she was a young mother whose 5-year-old daughter had been taken away in court because Bashi divorced her husband. Under Iranian law at the time, a woman who asked for divorce gave up all custody rights. A straight re-creation of the event might seem overwrought, but Bashi's technique makes even such heartbreaking scenes light enough not to drag the story down. The drawing is similarly light and fluid, not weighed down by excessive detail but effective at telegraphing ideas that would be hard to express in words . . . It's funny and inventive, and you know exactly what she's getting at. Bashi's style, in other words, takes a comlicated, difficult story and makes it improbably easy to relate to."�Becky Ohlsen, BookPage �An engaging and entertaining journey into Islamic Iranian culture through the eyes of young professional woman. It is a window into the transformation of Iran from a pro-western country into the abyss of Islamic totalitarianism. The writer brilliantly takes you into her life and shows you how that affected her life and makes the case for the importance of democracy and freedom.��Brigitte Gabriel, author of They Must Be Stopped "Parsua Bashi is one of those compelling voices who rarely get heard in the mass media, but who can sing her poignant song loud and clear through the intimate medium of the graphic novel."�Paul Gravett, author Manga: Sixty Years Of Japanese Comics�Parsua Bashi weaves personal experience with Iranian history and, without coming across as opinionated, paints a highly critical picture of society in her homeland as well as in Switzerland, where she emigrated in 2004. Her clear picture writing and drawings in muted colors turn the individual episodes of her comics into little events.��Weltwoche (Germany)"Bashi's 'nylon road'�a play on the Silk Road, that ancient caravan route crossing Persia�led her to Europe at age 38. Bashi follows a boyfriend to Switzerland, where she is ambushed by a succession of former selves at different ages, all reacting to her new European life. This device frames Bashi's internal conflicts in a way both lighthearted and intense as she comes to terms with living in a Westernized country. Through flashbacks, we learn about the Islamic Revolution, her marriage to a repressive man and their subsequent divorce�she gave up her child as the price�and her later career as a successful designer . . . Bashi never does draw conclusions but comes to embrace her many selves while leaving readers to ponder . . . A perceptive and nuanced take on repression, freedom, and women's lives; recommended for teens and up. Also, an excellent readalike for Persepolis."�Martha Cornog, Library Journal