Today we hear from Kaveh Akbar, author of the new novel Martyr!
In the novel, Cyrus Shams loses his mother just a few months after he was born when the plane she was in was shot out of the sky by a U.S. Navy warship. Cyrus goes on to become a recovering addict who is obsessed with martyrdom, a poet who doesn’t write much. His father, Ali, is resigned to work in a chicken factory in Fort Wayne, Indiana. These characters seem sad, but the novel Martyr! Is funny, compelling, and a fabulous read.
