The End of the Arab of the Future: A Youth in the Middle East Vol. 2

The final volume in Riad Sattouf's critically lauded autobiographical series!

Now entering adulthood, Riad lives with his mother in France, trying to build a future through art and storytelling. But the past is never far from the present and still has a hold on him. As a child, Riad was raised between Europe and the Middle East, the son of a rigid and idealistic Syrian father who eventually abducted his younger brother, Fadi, and disappeared with him into Syria. Though physically gone, the father remains a constant psychological presence—haunting Riad like a ghost, judging and commenting on his every choice, from love to work to the clothes he wears.

This final volume spans over a decade, chronicling Riad's journey from art student to acclaimed cartoonist. Along the way, he faces grief, wrestles with success, and confronts the need to reconcile with a cultural legacy that shaped—and distorted—his early life. Told with clarity, emotional weight, and moments of dark humor, this book closes the series on a deeply personal yet universally resonant note. Readers new to the story will find in this volume a complete and powerful account of one young man's path to independence, drawn from the wreckage of two clashing worlds.