We’re excited to share the first few of what we hope will be many positive reviews come in this week for Brothers of the Gun. Book officially drops May 15th. Stay tuned here for a tour schedule

Syrian refugees hiding from Turkish border guards near Afrin, northern Syria, June 2015

NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS:

Their initial pieces were published in Vanity Fair. It was, as he puts it, an “art crime” for which he would probably have been executed had he been discovered by ISIS. A body hanging from a lamppost, a small child with an enormous rifle, people running down a rubble-strewn street—such images rendered beautiful by the pen are disturbing. Crabapple used vibrant, sometimes lurid color in the original magazine pieces, but the black-and-white illustrations in the book, carefully blotched and smudged, invite more thought, not least the cover illustration of a violinist playing an instrument that, on closer inspection, turns out to be a Kalashnikov.  -Lindsey Hilsum, NYRB 4/19/18

Full review here.

BOOKLIST:

Along with Crabapple’s haunting images, the author’s words offer both an elegy for what has been lost and an angry plea for all that remains. This is memoir at its most powerful, ensuring that we cannot forget lives we never knew.— Colleen Mondor

Full review here.

KIRKUS

As he recounts the events leading to the increasing repression on the part of the Assad regime and the eventual descent of Syria into civil conflict, Hisham writes with a wryly observant eye for telling remarks. If the customary cry of faithful warriors was that God is great, then the quietly subversive retort of a Raqqawi graffiti artist makes for a fine rejoinder: “Tomorrow is better.” Tomorrow is a rare commodity in Hisham’s fast-moving account, which is enhanced by Crabapple’s powerful ink drawings.

Full review here.

psssstt: have we convinced you yet that the book is absolutely amazing!? It really is an incredible read filled with gorgeous art. You can already pre-order your copy at your local bookstore or amazon or b&n.