MarkMcElroy.comMartyr!
A nephew pointed me to Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr!. I’m thankful: I likely wouldn’t have found this book on my own.
Cyrus, an Iranian-American queer poet, sets out to learn more about his mother’s death in an infamous plane crash. Along the way, he befriends Orkideh, an artist whose final performance involves chatting daily with museum visitors until she succumbs to cancer.
An unexpectedly beautiful book, from the casual way Cyrus shares intimacy with his friend and roommate (Zee) to the questions raised about how much of ourselves we’re willing to give up to the ideas that motivate us.
Especially memorable: the dream sequence in which an art gallery requires customers to pay for their selections by chopping off their fingers instead of plunking down cash.
This came back to me while Clyde and I browsed artwork at Gallery 202 in Franklin, Tennessee. It’s one thing to wander through and determine whether that luminous oil painting that draws your eye is worth hundreds or thousands of dollars. It would be another to ask, “Would I give up my index finger for it?”
I remember, when reading this book, the emotional impact of having this metaphor unfold itself in my head. This is, of course, exactly what martyrs of every stripe do: they are so drawn to an idea, they are willing to cut off not just their fingers, but their entire bodies — their lives! — in support of it.
For this and other reasons, this book still has me reeling. It’s bound to be one of my favorite reads this year.
#KavehAkbar
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