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This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America
A gorgeously illustrated and written debut graphic memoir about belonging, identity, and making a home in the remote American West, by New Yorker cartoonist Navied Mahdavian
Before Navied Mahdavian moved with his wife and dog in November of 2016 from San Francisco to an off-the-grid cabin in rural Idaho, he had never fished, gardened, hiked, hunted, or lived in a snowy place. But there, he could own land, realize his dream of being an artist, and start a family—the Millennial dream. Over the next three years, Mahdavian leaned into the wonders of the natural Idaho landscape and found himself adjusting to and enjoying a slower pace of living. But beyond the boundaries of his six acres, he was confronted with the realities of America’s political shifts and forced to confront the question: Do I belong here?
Mahdavian’s unflinchingly honest graphic memoir charts his growth and struggles as an artist, citizen, and new father. It celebrates his love of place and honors the relationships he makes in rural America, touching on dynamics like culture, environment, and identity in America, and even articulating difficult moments of racism and brutality he found there as a Middle Eastern American. With wit, compassion, and a sense of humor, Mahdavian’s insider perspective offers a unique portrait of one of the most remote and wild areas of the American West.
Before Navied Mahdavian moved with his wife and dog in November of 2016 from San Francisco to an off-the-grid cabin in rural Idaho, he had never fished, gardened, hiked, hunted, or lived in a snowy place. But there, he could own land, realize his dream of being an artist, and start a family—the Millennial dream. Over the next three years, Mahdavian leaned into the wonders of the natural Idaho landscape and found himself adjusting to and enjoying a slower pace of living. But beyond the boundaries of his six acres, he was confronted with the realities of America’s political shifts and forced to confront the question: Do I belong here?
Mahdavian’s unflinchingly honest graphic memoir charts his growth and struggles as an artist, citizen, and new father. It celebrates his love of place and honors the relationships he makes in rural America, touching on dynamics like culture, environment, and identity in America, and even articulating difficult moments of racism and brutality he found there as a Middle Eastern American. With wit, compassion, and a sense of humor, Mahdavian’s insider perspective offers a unique portrait of one of the most remote and wild areas of the American West.
288 pages, Paperback
First published September 12, 2023
26 people are currently reading
4667 people want to read
About the author
Navied Mahdavian
2 books28 followersNavied Mahdavian is a cartoonist and writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker since 2018. He is the author and illustrator of the graphic memoir This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America, an NPR and New Yorker book of the year.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 331 reviews
June 12, 2025
In the summer of 2016 San Francisco residents Navied and Emelie Mahdavian visited rural Idaho on a whim and were so enchanted that they moved there a few months later. The move made sense to them financially, as Navied didn’t earn much as a teacher and neither did Emelie as a documentary-filmmaker. Three years later, however, they left.
This Country is a sequential-art memoir that’s a portrait of rural-Idaho culture and of a no-frills homesteading life. The Mahdavians built a tiny cabin of 280 square feet and, as vegetarians, grew much of their food. These humble choices undoubtedly earned them some credibility with locals, allowing them to fit in so they weren’t immediately assumed to be “snobby urbanites” just looking for adventure. They also were hopelessly idealistic and (most surprising) naïve, traits that presented as enthusiasm and authenticity.
Their nearest neighbors were welcoming and friendly, as were the people they met while out and about—but although This Country isn’t an angry and condescending depiction of rural Idaho, the ugliness of traditionalist, closed-minded thinking of the Idahoans comes through. The culture clash was profound. Navied was likely the first Iranian-American these people had met in person, and many regarded him warily—although fortunately he never experienced outright hatred. The “N” slur is used liberally in a conversation he has the misfortune of sitting in on, the impression being that using it is second-nature, the default term. “It’s just what we call them,” one of the residents justifies to a stunned-silent Navied. When Navied and Emelie restore the abandoned movie theater, they’re able to turn a profit only when they show John Wayne movies. This Country drives home the urban-rural dissonance with revelatory scenes that shed light on a part of the U.S. most people know nothing about.
Navied’s urbanite point of view makes a difference. Readers who’ve never lived in a rural area, particularly a rural area where hunting is a way of life, are surprised and educated along with him. Especially eye-opening for him is when he learns that every Idahoan in the area hunts because hunting makes economic sense. A single deer can feed a family for a long time. But more than that, in large, sparsely populated states, grocery stores for rural residents can be hours away, while trucking-in food to stores across a mostly rural state is inefficient.
Navied broke up his account with gardening scenes and musings on birds and philosophy. These parts tend to be too long, and he didn’t present them in an engaging way, but without them the book could maybe seem gawking and judgmental. He was careful with the tone. He presented everything in a neutral way, trusting readers to infer his feelings because he wrote about and illustrated the everyday life of this place with naked honesty. However, he and Emelie liked Idaho well enough that they immersed themselves in this life for three years, and they fortunately experienced enough positivity to move away without bitterness.
This Country is a sequential-art memoir that’s a portrait of rural-Idaho culture and of a no-frills homesteading life. The Mahdavians built a tiny cabin of 280 square feet and, as vegetarians, grew much of their food. These humble choices undoubtedly earned them some credibility with locals, allowing them to fit in so they weren’t immediately assumed to be “snobby urbanites” just looking for adventure. They also were hopelessly idealistic and (most surprising) naïve, traits that presented as enthusiasm and authenticity.
Their nearest neighbors were welcoming and friendly, as were the people they met while out and about—but although This Country isn’t an angry and condescending depiction of rural Idaho, the ugliness of traditionalist, closed-minded thinking of the Idahoans comes through. The culture clash was profound. Navied was likely the first Iranian-American these people had met in person, and many regarded him warily—although fortunately he never experienced outright hatred. The “N” slur is used liberally in a conversation he has the misfortune of sitting in on, the impression being that using it is second-nature, the default term. “It’s just what we call them,” one of the residents justifies to a stunned-silent Navied. When Navied and Emelie restore the abandoned movie theater, they’re able to turn a profit only when they show John Wayne movies. This Country drives home the urban-rural dissonance with revelatory scenes that shed light on a part of the U.S. most people know nothing about.
Navied’s urbanite point of view makes a difference. Readers who’ve never lived in a rural area, particularly a rural area where hunting is a way of life, are surprised and educated along with him. Especially eye-opening for him is when he learns that every Idahoan in the area hunts because hunting makes economic sense. A single deer can feed a family for a long time. But more than that, in large, sparsely populated states, grocery stores for rural residents can be hours away, while trucking-in food to stores across a mostly rural state is inefficient.
Navied broke up his account with gardening scenes and musings on birds and philosophy. These parts tend to be too long, and he didn’t present them in an engaging way, but without them the book could maybe seem gawking and judgmental. He was careful with the tone. He presented everything in a neutral way, trusting readers to infer his feelings because he wrote about and illustrated the everyday life of this place with naked honesty. However, he and Emelie liked Idaho well enough that they immersed themselves in this life for three years, and they fortunately experienced enough positivity to move away without bitterness.
March 3, 2024
I probably shouldn’t be allowed to read any memoirs. Because here I am again, wondering how they made money leaving in a middle of nowhere growing vegetables and hanging out with their dog. Enough money to build their home and afford IVF. That they failed trying to fit in in a Trump country being hipsters I wasn’t really surprised by.
September 30, 2023
Mahdavian has also published comics in the New Yorker. His debut graphic novel is a memoir of the three years (2016–19) he and his wife lived in remote Idaho. Of Iranian heritage, the author had lived in Miami and then the Bay Area, so was pretty unprepared for living off-grid. His wife, Emelie (who is white), is a documentary filmmaker. They had a box house brought in on a trailer. After Trump’s surprise win, it was a challenging time to be a Brown man in the rural USA. “You’re not a Muslim, are you?” was the kind of question he got on their trips into town. Neighbors were outwardly friendly – bringing them firewood and elk kebabs, helping when their car wouldn’t start or they ran off the road in icy conditions, teaching them the local bald eagles’ habits – yet thought nothing of making racist and homophobic slurs.
I appreciated the self-deprecating depictions of learning DIY from YouTube videos and feeling like a wimp in comparison to his new friends who hunt and have gun collections – one funny spread has him imagining himself as a baby in a onesie sitting across from a manly neighbor. “I am shedding my city madness,” Mahdavian boasts as they plant an abundant garden and start learning about trees and birds. The references to Persian myth and melodrama are intriguing, though sometimes seem à propos of nothing, as do the asides on science and nature. I preferred when the focus was on the couple’s struggles with infertility and reopening the town movie theater – a flop because people only want John Wayne flicks.
This was enjoyable reading, but the simple black-and-white style is unlikely to draw in readers new to graphic storytelling, and I wondered if the overall premise – ‘we expected to find closed-minded racists and we did’ – was enough to hang a memoir on.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
I appreciated the self-deprecating depictions of learning DIY from YouTube videos and feeling like a wimp in comparison to his new friends who hunt and have gun collections – one funny spread has him imagining himself as a baby in a onesie sitting across from a manly neighbor. “I am shedding my city madness,” Mahdavian boasts as they plant an abundant garden and start learning about trees and birds. The references to Persian myth and melodrama are intriguing, though sometimes seem à propos of nothing, as do the asides on science and nature. I preferred when the focus was on the couple’s struggles with infertility and reopening the town movie theater – a flop because people only want John Wayne flicks.
This was enjoyable reading, but the simple black-and-white style is unlikely to draw in readers new to graphic storytelling, and I wondered if the overall premise – ‘we expected to find closed-minded racists and we did’ – was enough to hang a memoir on.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
August 24, 2023
Thoreau lived in a tiny house on Walden Pond, but it took reality television to make this lifestyle approachable by the time Navied and Emelie Mahdavian took the plunge. Affordable living is something San Francisco could not offer them, and the daily commute to his teaching position left little time or energy for Navied to pursue his dream of becoming a cartoonist. The solution? It is as radical as it is brave. They purchased six acres in one of the remotest areas of Idaho, a state they had visited on a whim the previous summer, and built a 280 square foot tiny house.
This graphic novel follows their off-grid experience as Navied and Emelie make a new life in rugged cowboy country where grit is a prerequisite and hunting and ranching is a way of life. Their community is culturally rooted in the historic west where the skies are big, crowds are small, ranching puts dinner on the table, and the challenging lifestyle selects for a conservative approach and penchant for John Wayne movies.
In this insular world, Navied will find friendship and navigate insensitive questions and unsettling conversation. With his urban background and choice to live a plant-based lifestyle, it is particularly difficult for him to see how locals hunt for food and the inhumane way they protect their cattle stocks. But this book is about far more than cultural differences. It is about learning to match the birdsong to the bird, chopping wood and growing beets, surviving an Idaho winter, and falling in love with gooseberries. But this only touches the surface. This book is at once moving and joyful as Navied describes personal challenges and victories. It is a quick and fun read with Teacher Navied dropping in a few lessons while the newly minted Cartoonist Navied entertains.
This book will be released September 12, 2023.
Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books, Princeton Architectural Press for providing this eARC.
This graphic novel follows their off-grid experience as Navied and Emelie make a new life in rugged cowboy country where grit is a prerequisite and hunting and ranching is a way of life. Their community is culturally rooted in the historic west where the skies are big, crowds are small, ranching puts dinner on the table, and the challenging lifestyle selects for a conservative approach and penchant for John Wayne movies.
In this insular world, Navied will find friendship and navigate insensitive questions and unsettling conversation. With his urban background and choice to live a plant-based lifestyle, it is particularly difficult for him to see how locals hunt for food and the inhumane way they protect their cattle stocks. But this book is about far more than cultural differences. It is about learning to match the birdsong to the bird, chopping wood and growing beets, surviving an Idaho winter, and falling in love with gooseberries. But this only touches the surface. This book is at once moving and joyful as Navied describes personal challenges and victories. It is a quick and fun read with Teacher Navied dropping in a few lessons while the newly minted Cartoonist Navied entertains.
This book will be released September 12, 2023.
Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books, Princeton Architectural Press for providing this eARC.
August 4, 2023
I live in rural America, but a liberal area of the state. My grandmother lived in Springville, deep in the Sierra Foothills of California, which you would think would be covered with hard-core conservatives, but it is actually a mixture of people who just want to be left alone, which is why they live out there. I would go up to visit her, and meet the most interesting people, with a long history (as far as a white person can have) on the land. Early colonists. But, as the author points out in this memoir, most everyone is white.
The story begins with them leaving their jobs and live in San Francisco and moving to land in Idaho, where they put up a tiny house, and try to farm the land. They are thinking this will be a better way of life for their future children. And while doing this they meet very good people, if a bit conservative, as this is around the time of Trump's election. But while they meet these types of people, who they might not talk to in San Francisco, here they are their neighbors, and they help each other, and accept the author and his wife.
Beautifully illustrated. The loneliness. The open spaces. The hardness. The cold. Those of us on the West Coast don't realize how cold winter is further into the country. Not a spoiler, because the author gives it away on page 10, but they only last three years.
I loved reading this but kept wondering how they survived in three years.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This is coming out from Chronicle Books on the 12th of Sept. 2023.
The story begins with them leaving their jobs and live in San Francisco and moving to land in Idaho, where they put up a tiny house, and try to farm the land. They are thinking this will be a better way of life for their future children. And while doing this they meet very good people, if a bit conservative, as this is around the time of Trump's election. But while they meet these types of people, who they might not talk to in San Francisco, here they are their neighbors, and they help each other, and accept the author and his wife.
Beautifully illustrated. The loneliness. The open spaces. The hardness. The cold. Those of us on the West Coast don't realize how cold winter is further into the country. Not a spoiler, because the author gives it away on page 10, but they only last three years.
I loved reading this but kept wondering how they survived in three years.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This is coming out from Chronicle Books on the 12th of Sept. 2023.
December 9, 2023
A vegetarian, Iranian-American man and his wife relocate from liberal San Francisco to conservative rural Idaho to build a life closer to the land and nature. The landscape and the animals are magnificent, the wildfires and hunters not so much. The racism and xenophobia add an extra cutting chill to the challenging subzero winters.
Mahdavian's anecdotes and insights about nature and the community are interesting and illuminating, but his relationship with his wife comes off so pleasant as to seem shallow, even in the midst of fertility issues and big life decisions about where to live. I liked what I saw on the page, but I'm left with an impression of withholding or a sense of detachment.
(Best of 2023 Project: I'm reading all the graphic novels that made it onto the list of NPR's Books We Love 2023: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels )
Mahdavian's anecdotes and insights about nature and the community are interesting and illuminating, but his relationship with his wife comes off so pleasant as to seem shallow, even in the midst of fertility issues and big life decisions about where to live. I liked what I saw on the page, but I'm left with an impression of withholding or a sense of detachment.
(Best of 2023 Project: I'm reading all the graphic novels that made it onto the list of NPR's Books We Love 2023: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels )
December 5, 2023
I picked this one up at the wonderful Rediscovered Books in Boise, Idaho.
In this graphic novel, our author, Navied, leaves the Bay Area with his girlfriend to start a new life in (very) rural Idaho. They find it's not as idyllic an experience as they'd initially expected because ...
1. Winters in rural Idaho are really cold.
2. People in rural Idaho are really conservative.
Who'd have guessed it, right?
When Navied relays his first encounter with a Trump supporter who is — shocker — not kind to the Muslim guy who's just moved in, it's hard not to exclaim "of course!" I mean what were these two expecting? Had they ever left the confines of their liberal metropolis before? They seem surprised by their encounters here, surprised that many of the folks they encounter out there are Trumpy, that they love guns, and are, yes, sorta racist. But isn't this pretty well established?
So some of this left me feeling a bit skeptical. It made me doubt the sincerity with which this was written, doubt that Navied and his partner could really have been that naive. I'm not sure what idyllic paradise he and his partner expected, but I think they could have forecast much of this before initially setting off — and saved themselves a whole lot of pain in the process.
This book's subtitle, "Searching for Home in (very) Rural America," is what initially appealed to me about this one because I'm in the midst of a similar search for "home" and am having many of the same difficulties in finding it. Forget about actually owning a home — I think this is off the table for most Millennials, or at least those not making a six-figure income — but even just finding a place to settle down for a little while in America isn't exactly an easy task these days, what with the runaway affordability crisis gripping most of our cities — particularly the bluer enclaves on the coast.
So while I liked this one, I didn't love it the way I loved Brecht Evens The City of Belgium or Nora Krug's Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home, but it was nicely illustrated and a good "local" read for my time in Idaho.
In this graphic novel, our author, Navied, leaves the Bay Area with his girlfriend to start a new life in (very) rural Idaho. They find it's not as idyllic an experience as they'd initially expected because ...
1. Winters in rural Idaho are really cold.
2. People in rural Idaho are really conservative.
Who'd have guessed it, right?
When Navied relays his first encounter with a Trump supporter who is — shocker — not kind to the Muslim guy who's just moved in, it's hard not to exclaim "of course!" I mean what were these two expecting? Had they ever left the confines of their liberal metropolis before? They seem surprised by their encounters here, surprised that many of the folks they encounter out there are Trumpy, that they love guns, and are, yes, sorta racist. But isn't this pretty well established?
So some of this left me feeling a bit skeptical. It made me doubt the sincerity with which this was written, doubt that Navied and his partner could really have been that naive. I'm not sure what idyllic paradise he and his partner expected, but I think they could have forecast much of this before initially setting off — and saved themselves a whole lot of pain in the process.
This book's subtitle, "Searching for Home in (very) Rural America," is what initially appealed to me about this one because I'm in the midst of a similar search for "home" and am having many of the same difficulties in finding it. Forget about actually owning a home — I think this is off the table for most Millennials, or at least those not making a six-figure income — but even just finding a place to settle down for a little while in America isn't exactly an easy task these days, what with the runaway affordability crisis gripping most of our cities — particularly the bluer enclaves on the coast.
So while I liked this one, I didn't love it the way I loved Brecht Evens The City of Belgium or Nora Krug's Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home, but it was nicely illustrated and a good "local" read for my time in Idaho.
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April 27, 2024As someone who grew up in the rural west & writes about people in rural places, this was very interesting to me. To see those places through the eyes of someone who grew up on the east coast & is not white is compelling. Places of my youth are imbued with both beauty and danger. This was funny but also melancholic.
July 19, 2025
A nice memoir about a couple that leaves the busyness of San Francisco and buys land in central Idaho, which is close to my home town! Eventually, they realize they can’t hack it because it’s very rural and the culture is a conservative hunting town, so they move to Salt Lake City, UT which is where, coincidentally, I live now!
It’s a nice growing family story and I liked hearing about the animals they saw and their garden, but overall I felt the story was all over the place. It touched on some of the racist things the townspeople would say to them, and the general hardships of living in the middle of nowhere, but that was just here and there. I’m just not sure what the point of the story was.
I also get bummed out when people build on beautiful land. I also have NO idea how they could afford 6 acres of land and build their own cabin-home. He was a teacher turned cartoonist and she was a documentary filmmaker. I guess they were successful in those endeavors. 1 in a million!
It’s a nice growing family story and I liked hearing about the animals they saw and their garden, but overall I felt the story was all over the place. It touched on some of the racist things the townspeople would say to them, and the general hardships of living in the middle of nowhere, but that was just here and there. I’m just not sure what the point of the story was.
I also get bummed out when people build on beautiful land. I also have NO idea how they could afford 6 acres of land and build their own cabin-home. He was a teacher turned cartoonist and she was a documentary filmmaker. I guess they were successful in those endeavors. 1 in a million!
December 16, 2023
(Maybe good for my friends Dar and Kathryn who have moved to Oregon and Idaho.)
Pretty much just another city slickers try to homestead memoir. What makes this one interesting is the struggle these millenials had to conceive. Honestly, I don't get it. Because of her they gave up their lives in the country just when they were starting to get comfortable enough. Imo, a crowded city comes with its own set of problems, including plenty of bigots... I'm not sure the child is better off there. But hey, that's just me, with my history of living in lots of different communities across the country, bringing my own personal judgement in.*
Very quick read. Good for young** folks who haven't thought much about folks outside their bubble.
*Or is it? The author himself says that "In cities, animals are insane because of the persistent light." And I think that he realizes that people are animals. And that the persistent noise is also a big problem. :sigh:
**(Age 14 up.)
Pretty much just another city slickers try to homestead memoir. What makes this one interesting is the struggle these millenials had to conceive. Honestly, I don't get it. Because of her they gave up their lives in the country just when they were starting to get comfortable enough. Imo, a crowded city comes with its own set of problems, including plenty of bigots... I'm not sure the child is better off there. But hey, that's just me, with my history of living in lots of different communities across the country, bringing my own personal judgement in.*
Very quick read. Good for young** folks who haven't thought much about folks outside their bubble.
*Or is it? The author himself says that "In cities, animals are insane because of the persistent light." And I think that he realizes that people are animals. And that the persistent noise is also a big problem. :sigh:
**(Age 14 up.)
January 18, 2025
The author seems to have tried turning his story of being around people he dislikes into a romantic or funny narrative, but it comes off as arrogant and condescending. His attempts to show wisdom in methodology or astrology are overshadowed by his frustration with locals not conforming to his views.
As an Iranian, I found his depiction of being Persian shallow and cringeworthy, with little real understanding of Iran. The whole book felt pretentious and failed to resonate with me. I can’t recommend it.
As an Iranian, I found his depiction of being Persian shallow and cringeworthy, with little real understanding of Iran. The whole book felt pretentious and failed to resonate with me. I can’t recommend it.
February 24, 2024
This was fine.
I read a review on here where someone basically said that you get what you expect from it: an Iranian man moves to the midwest and finds racist people. Though, it wasn't a book about racism, and that actually only played a small role in this book, to be quite honest. Most of the book was just about him and his wife adjusting to rural life.
I read a review on here where someone basically said that you get what you expect from it: an Iranian man moves to the midwest and finds racist people. Though, it wasn't a book about racism, and that actually only played a small role in this book, to be quite honest. Most of the book was just about him and his wife adjusting to rural life.
June 8, 2024
There is a lovely spirit to this tale and watching Navied as he begins his Idaho journey reminded me of Bilbo Baggins erupting from his hobbit hole and racing across the shire, shouting, "I'm going on an adventure!"
Thirty-eight years ago, I made a similar move from San Francisco to a state neighboring Idaho and yep, the culture shock is very real. I admire Navied's willingness to paint the whole portrait of the people he meets, their willingness to help out newcomers as well as the ugly attitudes they possess. I've found it very hard to reconcile otherwise likeable people holding such hostility for those they consider "other" and how quick they are to "other" people unlike themselves in merely superficial ways. Navied reveals his own openness and humanity in this way.
His journey of getting to know his other neighbors, the creatures who inhabit the property he and Emelie are homesteading, made me smile. I know and like them, too, although garden-marauding deer are a real challenge. So, I appreciate his honesty in depicting the difference between an idealized concept of homesteading and the reality of it. It's hard work to be self-sustaining and there are times when, no matter what you've done, it's not enough.
I really enjoyed this novel and hope that Navied and his family find much happiness, wherever they are.
Thirty-eight years ago, I made a similar move from San Francisco to a state neighboring Idaho and yep, the culture shock is very real. I admire Navied's willingness to paint the whole portrait of the people he meets, their willingness to help out newcomers as well as the ugly attitudes they possess. I've found it very hard to reconcile otherwise likeable people holding such hostility for those they consider "other" and how quick they are to "other" people unlike themselves in merely superficial ways. Navied reveals his own openness and humanity in this way.
His journey of getting to know his other neighbors, the creatures who inhabit the property he and Emelie are homesteading, made me smile. I know and like them, too, although garden-marauding deer are a real challenge. So, I appreciate his honesty in depicting the difference between an idealized concept of homesteading and the reality of it. It's hard work to be self-sustaining and there are times when, no matter what you've done, it's not enough.
I really enjoyed this novel and hope that Navied and his family find much happiness, wherever they are.
August 16, 2023
Navied Mahdavian's graphic memoir This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America shares the story of the three years he, his wife, their dog (and eventually their infant daughter) spent living in rural Idaho, attempting to build a self-sustaining life in an off-grid cabin.
The black-and-white art is lovely and makes perfect use of white space in the panels (sometimes across pages) to capture open skies and heavy snowfall. And the details drawn on trees and birds is outstanding.
The portrayal of the community and the challenges that brings politically and socially (they're artists, newly arrived from California, and he's vegetarian and of West Asian heritage), is nicely handled, and the awkwardness of personal kindness being wrapped in bigotry is never over explained.
My only complaint would be the final 10 pages or so, where the couple decides to move after grappling with what it would mean for their daughter to grow up with that area's regional culture feels a little sudden, despite the slow build that seems to have been happening since day one.
I read an eARC from NetGalley, but the book will be published on 12 September 2023. It's worth checking out if you're interested in hearing a counter-piece to some of the more romantic escape-to-the-country stories.
The black-and-white art is lovely and makes perfect use of white space in the panels (sometimes across pages) to capture open skies and heavy snowfall. And the details drawn on trees and birds is outstanding.
The portrayal of the community and the challenges that brings politically and socially (they're artists, newly arrived from California, and he's vegetarian and of West Asian heritage), is nicely handled, and the awkwardness of personal kindness being wrapped in bigotry is never over explained.
My only complaint would be the final 10 pages or so, where the couple decides to move after grappling with what it would mean for their daughter to grow up with that area's regional culture feels a little sudden, despite the slow build that seems to have been happening since day one.
I read an eARC from NetGalley, but the book will be published on 12 September 2023. It's worth checking out if you're interested in hearing a counter-piece to some of the more romantic escape-to-the-country stories.
December 23, 2023
Mahdavian and his wife visit Idaho one summer and make a life changing decision to buy several acres of land and move there. They live in a small house. They have never had a winter like a winter in Idaho.
The neighbors are helpful, but also wary of this mixed race couple. Trump is running for office and so much of the suspicion of “other” is glaring. What often shocks Mahdavian is how those around him can judge effortlessly without blinking. It’s disconcerting.
But it’s not all bad. The couple learn how to listen to nature, grown their own garden and live in such close quarters. While this experiment worked for a couple of years, it felt unsustainable once they get pregnant.
A quick read, but one that I hoped offered deeper insight into a rural lifestyle.
The neighbors are helpful, but also wary of this mixed race couple. Trump is running for office and so much of the suspicion of “other” is glaring. What often shocks Mahdavian is how those around him can judge effortlessly without blinking. It’s disconcerting.
But it’s not all bad. The couple learn how to listen to nature, grown their own garden and live in such close quarters. While this experiment worked for a couple of years, it felt unsustainable once they get pregnant.
A quick read, but one that I hoped offered deeper insight into a rural lifestyle.
December 3, 2023
This is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel about Navied Mahdavian’s three years in rural Idaho with his wife Emelie. As an Iranian American from the Bay Area, he navigates life in conservative, remote, and white part of the country.
He tells his story with tenderness and humor — I laughed out loud several times. There are many quiet pages without words, showing contemplative moments or nostalgic passage of time. These pages show one of the powers of the graphic novel medium to create mood.
I’m now a fan and will be following his work.
He tells his story with tenderness and humor — I laughed out loud several times. There are many quiet pages without words, showing contemplative moments or nostalgic passage of time. These pages show one of the powers of the graphic novel medium to create mood.
I’m now a fan and will be following his work.
November 20, 2023
In this debut graphic memoir the author (of Iranian descent) chronicles the move he made with his wife (who is white) to remote Idaho. He documents the three years they lived there (2016-2019), how unprepared they were, and his encounters with locals. While I liked the black and white illustrations, this stays rather surface level without any deeper dives that would have made this a compelling read.
January 21, 2024
This is how I feel now in rural GA....
January 25, 2024
Very good, well drawn, and interesting. It just fell short for me, like it was really just skimming the surface of the story. There just wasn't much there. Still, what is there is good.
August 27, 2024
some of this feels familiar
August 8, 2024
Very beautiful and gentle, but also a bit boring. Not much is going on in terms of human interaction and the blank spaces are filled with paraphernalia from birding, gardening and ancient mythology.
Turns out Navied Mahdavian is my third cartoonist and two out of three are Iranians. The other one is of course, Marjane Satrapi who was lots of fun. Still it's nice to put a face and a life story behind a contributor to the New Yorker. And a graphic one at that.
Turns out Navied Mahdavian is my third cartoonist and two out of three are Iranians. The other one is of course, Marjane Satrapi who was lots of fun. Still it's nice to put a face and a life story behind a contributor to the New Yorker. And a graphic one at that.
September 23, 2023
I picked this new graphic novel as I was intrigued by the author's story. Navied Mahdavian was a teacher in San Francisco and lived with his wife, Emelie, a documentary film maker. Both decided that the vastness of rural Idaho was a great place to buy six acres of land and had idealistic notions of living off of the grid and purchased a tiny house in an area far different from life in the city. Mahdavian is of Iranian origin and faced questions from the neighbours who were largely white, conservative, and suspicious of anyone different. The neighbours were welcoming in helping the couple deal with the harsh climate, cold winters, roaming animals who destroyed their gardens, but harmful in sharing racist and homophobic views and explaining these away as "just the way we talk." The author never got comfortable around the gun culture and shooting of animals that was so much part of community life and shares stories of life with his wife in a tiny house in gorgeous, natural surroundings. Beautifully illustrated and reminded me of "Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands" by: Kate Beaton, another graphic novel that provides a narrative about life and work in an unfamiliar and insular community. It's a story of the realities of America's political shifts and where one finds belonging.
February 22, 2024
A young couple moves from San Francisco to attempt to carve out a life for themselves and their growing family in rural Idaho in this graphic memoir. This is no small feat--they construct their tiny cabin in what could be honestly called "the middle of nowhere," and they are a progressive-leaning, multiethnic family in a state that has gone so hard right that it is frequently the source of concerned news features in both national and international media.
Vehicles are snowbound, gorgeous vistas are observed, gardens are planted, business startups are attempted, and fellow residents manage to be both neighborly and disquieting, often in the same interactions.
Further thoughts (SPOILER ALERT):
Idaho is known for its hunting culture (including its embrace of some of the ugliest elements of that culture), and Mahdavian muses over trying hunting himself. [Twice he's identified as a vegetarian, yet the comic also depicts him eating meat dishes brought over by his rancher neighbor, so this is not a lifestyle he's strict about.] However, after seeing the reality of hunting close up on multiple occasions, the author thankfully decides not to add to the bullets flying toward his state's wildlife population.
Mahdavian acknowledges the economic advantages of hunting large, commonly-consumed species in this sparse region--but he also sees the obvious pleasure his neighbors take in the act of killing, challenging the contention that it's just about filling the freezer. In addition, there is plenty of recreational killing of inedible species as well where the motives are more stark. As much as the folks in this graphic novel make it clear that they distrust outsiders, sometimes it takes an outside perspective not wound up in a region's insular culture to see its problems.
Which brings me to the incident that ends up tipping the scales in the Mahdavian family's choice to leave Idaho--they witness the revolting aftermath of a wildlife killing contest. They take a hard look at the fact that this is the culture that their baby daughter will grow up in, and this is not what they want for her. It's sad that some regions of the country make people feel unwelcome and force them out--which of course only continues the cycle of these places becoming ever more insular and extremist.
Vehicles are snowbound, gorgeous vistas are observed, gardens are planted, business startups are attempted, and fellow residents manage to be both neighborly and disquieting, often in the same interactions.
Further thoughts (SPOILER ALERT):
Idaho is known for its hunting culture (including its embrace of some of the ugliest elements of that culture), and Mahdavian muses over trying hunting himself. [Twice he's identified as a vegetarian, yet the comic also depicts him eating meat dishes brought over by his rancher neighbor, so this is not a lifestyle he's strict about.] However, after seeing the reality of hunting close up on multiple occasions, the author thankfully decides not to add to the bullets flying toward his state's wildlife population.
Mahdavian acknowledges the economic advantages of hunting large, commonly-consumed species in this sparse region--but he also sees the obvious pleasure his neighbors take in the act of killing, challenging the contention that it's just about filling the freezer. In addition, there is plenty of recreational killing of inedible species as well where the motives are more stark. As much as the folks in this graphic novel make it clear that they distrust outsiders, sometimes it takes an outside perspective not wound up in a region's insular culture to see its problems.
Which brings me to the incident that ends up tipping the scales in the Mahdavian family's choice to leave Idaho--they witness the revolting aftermath of a wildlife killing contest. They take a hard look at the fact that this is the culture that their baby daughter will grow up in, and this is not what they want for her. It's sad that some regions of the country make people feel unwelcome and force them out--which of course only continues the cycle of these places becoming ever more insular and extremist.
August 29, 2023
Absolutely loved the ink drawings in this graphic novel and their ability to evoke so much with such sparsity. The Mahdavian family lives out a dream that many of us have had of escaping to a plot of land somewhere with just a little house, a garden, and wildlife to keep us company. In this journey they come face-to-face to the many realities of this decision. From the importance of what community might exist in these far-flung corners and what raising a child in this community might mean. Unfortunately, their sojourn into rural America comes at the same time as a certain megalomaniacal president rose to power and this book captures how this rise empowered people to express their worst thoughts without regard for what that means for others trying to live together with them.
September 8, 2023
Escaping expensive city life, Navied Mahdavian, his wife, and his dog, move to rural Idaho to try their hand at off the grid living. This book beautifully illustrated the charms and challenges of life in rural America in a politically turbulent time.
I loved the art in this graphic novel, but the story itself presented itself as a series of fun facts rather than a fluid narrative. It was hard for me to get through.
Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I loved the art in this graphic novel, but the story itself presented itself as a series of fun facts rather than a fluid narrative. It was hard for me to get through.
Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 4, 2023
While the illustrations were gorgeous, the storyline was at points nearly non existent.
The final thirty or so pages were my favorite as spoke more directly of the couple's experience with fertility and essentially the life cycle of their time in rural America.
I think this memoir touched on overarching topics like masculinity, gun culture, and racism it stopped short of really making a memorable statement.
The final thirty or so pages were my favorite as spoke more directly of the couple's experience with fertility and essentially the life cycle of their time in rural America.
I think this memoir touched on overarching topics like masculinity, gun culture, and racism it stopped short of really making a memorable statement.
July 14, 2024
A beautiful story of capturing a very personal experience of rural America. This book is beautifully illustrated and has a love and appreciation for art and poetry, that is interwoven with the natural setting and creatures that surround Navied Mahdavian and his wife within their new home.
This book is full of charm and whimsy. Navied has a very charming way of depicting scenes, and really captures the magic of forging a tiny home out in the middle of nowhere.
I felt like he did a great job illustrating what its like being an outsider very well here, or at least, feeling like an outsider. He didn't hold back on his depiction of racism towards him or his family, and I enjoyed how he captured it. I found it very insightful and relatable. I also enjoyed how he captured getting past those barriers at times, and found some true loveable at heart neighbors, and even managed to capture plenty of that small town 'special' people.
This book is a lovable journey.
This book is full of charm and whimsy. Navied has a very charming way of depicting scenes, and really captures the magic of forging a tiny home out in the middle of nowhere.
I felt like he did a great job illustrating what its like being an outsider very well here, or at least, feeling like an outsider. He didn't hold back on his depiction of racism towards him or his family, and I enjoyed how he captured it. I found it very insightful and relatable. I also enjoyed how he captured getting past those barriers at times, and found some true loveable at heart neighbors, and even managed to capture plenty of that small town 'special' people.
This book is a lovable journey.
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August 15, 2025I'm not giving this stars because its a memoir and I don't know how I feel about it. There were parts that were captivating and enlightening, and other parts that were reductive and dismissive. The realities of cabin life brought me back to my tiny abode in New Hampshire with the kerosene heater that went out twice that winter.
July 28, 2024
This is a nicely illustrated memoir, about a man and wife who decide to move out of the hustle & bustle of San Francisco and live off the grid in rural Idaho. How they built a cabin and learned to live off the land and deal with the locals, makes for interesting reading.
August 21, 2024
Loved the illustrations and the story too. Simple, minimal, told with a sense of humor and self-awareness. As a liberal living in a rural area I could relate to a lot of what the author had to say.
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