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The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams
A new all-ages adventure tale from Printz Medal Winner, Daniel Nayeri
This is the tale of an exciting journey along the Silk Road with a young Monk and his newfound guardian, Samir, a larger than life character and the so-called “Seller of Dreams”. The man is a scammer; his biggest skill being the ability to talk his way into getting what he wants. While that talking did save Monkey’s life, it has left a lot of people furious with Samir— furious enough to hire assassins. Monkey decides to try and save Samir from the attempts on his life—as a way to pay off his debt! If he can save Samir six times, he’ll be a free man...but will they all survive that long?
For fans of The Little Prince and Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
This is the tale of an exciting journey along the Silk Road with a young Monk and his newfound guardian, Samir, a larger than life character and the so-called “Seller of Dreams”. The man is a scammer; his biggest skill being the ability to talk his way into getting what he wants. While that talking did save Monkey’s life, it has left a lot of people furious with Samir— furious enough to hire assassins. Monkey decides to try and save Samir from the attempts on his life—as a way to pay off his debt! If he can save Samir six times, he’ll be a free man...but will they all survive that long?
For fans of The Little Prince and Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published March 7, 2023
166 people are currently reading
5898 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Nayeri
30 books910 followersDaniel Nayeri is a writer and editor in New York City. He wrote and produced The Cult of Sincerity, the first feature film to be world-premiered by YouTube. He has had all kinds of jobs around books, including book repairman, literary agent, used bookstore clerk, children's librarian, Official Story-Time Reader Leader, editor, copy-editor, and even carpenter (making bookshelves). He's also a professional pastry chef. He loves Street Fighter 2, hates the word "foodie," and is an award-winning stuntman.
Daniel and his sister/co-writer Dina were both born in Iran and spent many young adult years in Europe. There they learned several languages between them and tried Frosted Flakes for the first time.
Daniel and his sister/co-writer Dina were both born in Iran and spent many young adult years in Europe. There they learned several languages between them and tried Frosted Flakes for the first time.
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February 5, 2023
Come over here. I want to walk you through a first sentence.
You know, they often say that the first sentence of a book should really be a doozy and grab the reader’s attention, but most of the time authors sort of dash it off. They prefer to make the first page or the first chapter momentous and memorable, and I understand the instinct. Still, I’ve always carried a soft spot in my heart for those writers that really dig in and try to make Sentence #1 the place where the fireworks reside. Consider now the opening sentence of The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams: “The first time I was stoned to death by an angry mob, I was not even a criminal.” Let’s just pause and sit for a moment and take in why this sentence is so good. Pick it apart even:
“The first time” = There will be at least a second time.
“stoned to death by an angry mob” = instant excitement.
“I was not even a criminal” = the suggestion, however slightly, that in time this narrator would become a criminal.
Oh, what a piece of work is this sentence. And little wonder too, since it hails from the general vicinity of the tongue of Daniel Nayeri. Folks, I’m not going to sit before you and tell you that this middle grade novel is a perfect object, whole and without flaw. What I will tell you is that it will charm you, lure you, frustrate you, confound you, and generally wrap you up in its messy understanding of what happens when storytelling meets historical supposition. Nothing about this novel is wholly ideal except possibly its intentions and its ability to charm some readers into a general state of submission. The question now is: Are you such a reader?
Monkey is having a bad day. The monks, with whom he has lived with ever since his past guardians died, are currently in the process of stoning him to death for blasphemy. He is saved, ultimately, by the hand of a mustached merchant named Samir, to whom he is now indebted. The problem? Samir has a bit of a habit of stretching the truth. So much so that soon thereafter Monkey (as Samir dubs the kid) discovers that seven hired assassins are gunning for Samir’s life. If Monkey is to pay back his debt to Samir of six bolts of silk, then he’s going to have to save his life multiple times. But is Samir the rogue he appears to be, or is there something more at work? Set along the Silk Road in the eleventh century, Nayeri's story whisks you back in time to an era of warlords, thieves, merchants and scholars.
Now we come to the nut of the matter: audience. I don’t usually introduce this element of a book this early in a review, but I find myself hamstrung and forced to do so today. What age range, precisely, is this book being written for? At times, it has a downright adult sensibility. Other times it’s dealing in philosophical ideals better suited to a YA novel. And yet with the art of Daniel Miyares (doing a killer job, I might add, no pun intended) and the central plot of multiple assassins, there’s definitely a kid-friendly feel to much of it. You know, some books are marketed to different age levels, depending on the country. So a title like The Book Thief might be marketed to children in one nation and adults in another. The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams feels exactly like a book that would fall into this rarified category. This is not to say that a highly intelligent child wouldn’t get something out of it. Just that there are swaths of this story that will inevitably go over their heads. That’s not the worst thing in the world, but it does make it a little hard to categorize.
So for the sake of argument, let’s have fun and put the idea of age range completely to the side for the rest of this review. I mean, why not? If you’ve a kid that gets squeamish when it comes to physical attacks on the page then I can tell you right now that this book is not for them. For the kid inured to it, for good or for ill, we press on. As I’ve mentioned before, the bulk of the book is pretty great for kids that demand action. You’ve got that slambang opening of a boy running for his life, then a bit of downtime, and then the fact that there are multiple assassins gunning for Samir to pick up the pace once again. There are some distinctly philosophical discussions in the midst of all this (if you’ve ever craved a novel to dive into the nature of Accidentalism, you have just hit the jackpot, my friend) and some of Samir’s clever twists of the tongue tie up the reader as efficiently as his customers/antagonists, so a certain level of patience is required in all of this. Still, there’s a reason to press on: Daniel Nayeri has a gift.
Nayeri’s saving grace, the thing that makes him so similar to Samir (and, perhaps, his storytelling father as well) is his ability to string words together in an exceedingly alluring way. I haven’t done this in a review for a while, but I’m inclined to just pull out random quotes from this text because I like them. Like so:
- “The head monk made his answer silence – the executioner’s melody.”
- “We were almost nose-to-nose. Hers was the most elegant, porcelain thing I have ever seen. Under it were lips. Above it were eyes. Her face seemed to float in a cloud of unknowing. I am still in that yurt, any time I sleep, all this time later.”
- “But let this be a lesson: To everyone we love we give a knife. The knife is shaped to pass through the bones of our chests like a key in a lock. Nothing else can cut our hearts so deeply.”
- “For a short second, I wondered if Samir had ever been a father. I wondered if the reason he loved kids was because his heart had already built a room for them.”
- “The problem with tricksters is that they think everyone is playing the same games.”
When did I come to fall in love with the book? That’s a difficult question to answer. I suppose it was around the point when I came to realize what a stand up and cheer kind of guy Samir was. I mean, let’s step back for a second and take our narrator, Monkey, into account. You know how some people keep track of the books that they read on Goodreads and give their books little categories? One of my categories is "Unreliable Narrators” and you can BET that Monkey is going to find himself slotted into that space. Why? Because here we have a kid raised by monks who spends a goodly chunk of this book sitting in judgement of a lot of the other characters, particularly Samir. Never mind that the man gives him all the freedom he could possibly need. Monkey feels he’s beholden to Samir because he has to feel beholden to someone. Even so, author Daniel Nayeri has this way of giving Monkey the ability to both faithfully relay Samir’s multiple kindnesses to others, while still standing in judgement of him and finding fault every which way. After a while this narrating begins to sound like that of a sulky teenager discussing how uncool their parental figure is. Even the densest reader will, in time, be able to parse Monkey’s dismissals from the truly good work Samir does others every step of the way.
Monkey’s moments of clarity make him far more interesting than your average narrator. At one point he bemoans the fact that every time he saves Samir’s life, he finds that his debt, the six bolts of cloth Samir traded for him, have only been reduced by a single bolt. “And yet, when I looked at him – a failure of a man by any measure – I thought maybe that’s how little he valued himself. Maybe he wasn’t cheating me of anything, but simply setting a price on each of our lives. I don’t know. He loved himself and hated himself too much at the same time.” And just as Monkey grinds his way towards understanding, so too do we. Kids are naturally inclined to trust their narrators, so it would be interesting to do this in a book discussion group with a bunch of them. When did they begin to realize that Monkey p.o.v. wasn’t wholly reliable? When did they figure out that Samir’s ultimate plan, such as it is, seems to be to delay Monkey long enough into loving him? Can you delay someone into affection? Would love to hear some answers to that one.
Not to state the obvious, but there are similarities here to Don Quixote that are unavoidable. Many times it feels as if Monkey is a Sancho Panza, struggling along behind his errant knight of a master. Nowhere is this clearer than when Samir launches into a litany of praises for his own decrepit donkey, Rostam. “He’s the donkey patriarch, the people’s hero, a creature who casts a greater shadow than the divine tianma horses, a sire to Pegasus, and a ruby-sweating god-beast.” May we all have someone who loves us so much in our lives that they declare us a “ruby-sweating god-beast” in public.
Monkey is frustrated, continually, with Samir. And I, an adult reader of what is ostensibly a children’s book, am frustrated by The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams. But you know what? I’m not going to forget this book. I may want to pinch it into a new shape, and redirect it accordingly, but will I ever get that scene with the ablutionist out of my head? Or the fight on the bridge? I can still see with complete clarity the encounter with the Bezerker in the marketplace. I mean, the action scenes in this book are better than any Mission Impossible film you could name. The child that reads this will not forget it, and how many books that come out for this age range can say the same? Deeply annoying and engrossing and charming and odd, does this book, with its little Blue Velvet moments and strange Hail Mary passes that land 65% of the time, have an equal? Is there anything else out there like it? I will simply say this: If you hand this book to someone, they will definitely have an opinion of it. You may, in fact, end up loving it in the end, or cursing it to the heavens. A tome with a soul tied inextricably to that of its titular character. Better read it.
You know, they often say that the first sentence of a book should really be a doozy and grab the reader’s attention, but most of the time authors sort of dash it off. They prefer to make the first page or the first chapter momentous and memorable, and I understand the instinct. Still, I’ve always carried a soft spot in my heart for those writers that really dig in and try to make Sentence #1 the place where the fireworks reside. Consider now the opening sentence of The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams: “The first time I was stoned to death by an angry mob, I was not even a criminal.” Let’s just pause and sit for a moment and take in why this sentence is so good. Pick it apart even:
“The first time” = There will be at least a second time.
“stoned to death by an angry mob” = instant excitement.
“I was not even a criminal” = the suggestion, however slightly, that in time this narrator would become a criminal.
Oh, what a piece of work is this sentence. And little wonder too, since it hails from the general vicinity of the tongue of Daniel Nayeri. Folks, I’m not going to sit before you and tell you that this middle grade novel is a perfect object, whole and without flaw. What I will tell you is that it will charm you, lure you, frustrate you, confound you, and generally wrap you up in its messy understanding of what happens when storytelling meets historical supposition. Nothing about this novel is wholly ideal except possibly its intentions and its ability to charm some readers into a general state of submission. The question now is: Are you such a reader?
Monkey is having a bad day. The monks, with whom he has lived with ever since his past guardians died, are currently in the process of stoning him to death for blasphemy. He is saved, ultimately, by the hand of a mustached merchant named Samir, to whom he is now indebted. The problem? Samir has a bit of a habit of stretching the truth. So much so that soon thereafter Monkey (as Samir dubs the kid) discovers that seven hired assassins are gunning for Samir’s life. If Monkey is to pay back his debt to Samir of six bolts of silk, then he’s going to have to save his life multiple times. But is Samir the rogue he appears to be, or is there something more at work? Set along the Silk Road in the eleventh century, Nayeri's story whisks you back in time to an era of warlords, thieves, merchants and scholars.
Now we come to the nut of the matter: audience. I don’t usually introduce this element of a book this early in a review, but I find myself hamstrung and forced to do so today. What age range, precisely, is this book being written for? At times, it has a downright adult sensibility. Other times it’s dealing in philosophical ideals better suited to a YA novel. And yet with the art of Daniel Miyares (doing a killer job, I might add, no pun intended) and the central plot of multiple assassins, there’s definitely a kid-friendly feel to much of it. You know, some books are marketed to different age levels, depending on the country. So a title like The Book Thief might be marketed to children in one nation and adults in another. The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams feels exactly like a book that would fall into this rarified category. This is not to say that a highly intelligent child wouldn’t get something out of it. Just that there are swaths of this story that will inevitably go over their heads. That’s not the worst thing in the world, but it does make it a little hard to categorize.
So for the sake of argument, let’s have fun and put the idea of age range completely to the side for the rest of this review. I mean, why not? If you’ve a kid that gets squeamish when it comes to physical attacks on the page then I can tell you right now that this book is not for them. For the kid inured to it, for good or for ill, we press on. As I’ve mentioned before, the bulk of the book is pretty great for kids that demand action. You’ve got that slambang opening of a boy running for his life, then a bit of downtime, and then the fact that there are multiple assassins gunning for Samir to pick up the pace once again. There are some distinctly philosophical discussions in the midst of all this (if you’ve ever craved a novel to dive into the nature of Accidentalism, you have just hit the jackpot, my friend) and some of Samir’s clever twists of the tongue tie up the reader as efficiently as his customers/antagonists, so a certain level of patience is required in all of this. Still, there’s a reason to press on: Daniel Nayeri has a gift.
Nayeri’s saving grace, the thing that makes him so similar to Samir (and, perhaps, his storytelling father as well) is his ability to string words together in an exceedingly alluring way. I haven’t done this in a review for a while, but I’m inclined to just pull out random quotes from this text because I like them. Like so:
- “The head monk made his answer silence – the executioner’s melody.”
- “We were almost nose-to-nose. Hers was the most elegant, porcelain thing I have ever seen. Under it were lips. Above it were eyes. Her face seemed to float in a cloud of unknowing. I am still in that yurt, any time I sleep, all this time later.”
- “But let this be a lesson: To everyone we love we give a knife. The knife is shaped to pass through the bones of our chests like a key in a lock. Nothing else can cut our hearts so deeply.”
- “For a short second, I wondered if Samir had ever been a father. I wondered if the reason he loved kids was because his heart had already built a room for them.”
- “The problem with tricksters is that they think everyone is playing the same games.”
When did I come to fall in love with the book? That’s a difficult question to answer. I suppose it was around the point when I came to realize what a stand up and cheer kind of guy Samir was. I mean, let’s step back for a second and take our narrator, Monkey, into account. You know how some people keep track of the books that they read on Goodreads and give their books little categories? One of my categories is "Unreliable Narrators” and you can BET that Monkey is going to find himself slotted into that space. Why? Because here we have a kid raised by monks who spends a goodly chunk of this book sitting in judgement of a lot of the other characters, particularly Samir. Never mind that the man gives him all the freedom he could possibly need. Monkey feels he’s beholden to Samir because he has to feel beholden to someone. Even so, author Daniel Nayeri has this way of giving Monkey the ability to both faithfully relay Samir’s multiple kindnesses to others, while still standing in judgement of him and finding fault every which way. After a while this narrating begins to sound like that of a sulky teenager discussing how uncool their parental figure is. Even the densest reader will, in time, be able to parse Monkey’s dismissals from the truly good work Samir does others every step of the way.
Monkey’s moments of clarity make him far more interesting than your average narrator. At one point he bemoans the fact that every time he saves Samir’s life, he finds that his debt, the six bolts of cloth Samir traded for him, have only been reduced by a single bolt. “And yet, when I looked at him – a failure of a man by any measure – I thought maybe that’s how little he valued himself. Maybe he wasn’t cheating me of anything, but simply setting a price on each of our lives. I don’t know. He loved himself and hated himself too much at the same time.” And just as Monkey grinds his way towards understanding, so too do we. Kids are naturally inclined to trust their narrators, so it would be interesting to do this in a book discussion group with a bunch of them. When did they begin to realize that Monkey p.o.v. wasn’t wholly reliable? When did they figure out that Samir’s ultimate plan, such as it is, seems to be to delay Monkey long enough into loving him? Can you delay someone into affection? Would love to hear some answers to that one.
Not to state the obvious, but there are similarities here to Don Quixote that are unavoidable. Many times it feels as if Monkey is a Sancho Panza, struggling along behind his errant knight of a master. Nowhere is this clearer than when Samir launches into a litany of praises for his own decrepit donkey, Rostam. “He’s the donkey patriarch, the people’s hero, a creature who casts a greater shadow than the divine tianma horses, a sire to Pegasus, and a ruby-sweating god-beast.” May we all have someone who loves us so much in our lives that they declare us a “ruby-sweating god-beast” in public.
Monkey is frustrated, continually, with Samir. And I, an adult reader of what is ostensibly a children’s book, am frustrated by The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams. But you know what? I’m not going to forget this book. I may want to pinch it into a new shape, and redirect it accordingly, but will I ever get that scene with the ablutionist out of my head? Or the fight on the bridge? I can still see with complete clarity the encounter with the Bezerker in the marketplace. I mean, the action scenes in this book are better than any Mission Impossible film you could name. The child that reads this will not forget it, and how many books that come out for this age range can say the same? Deeply annoying and engrossing and charming and odd, does this book, with its little Blue Velvet moments and strange Hail Mary passes that land 65% of the time, have an equal? Is there anything else out there like it? I will simply say this: If you hand this book to someone, they will definitely have an opinion of it. You may, in fact, end up loving it in the end, or cursing it to the heavens. A tome with a soul tied inextricably to that of its titular character. Better read it.
February 8, 2024
I received a free copy for review from the publisher. This (clearly!) does not affect my opinions.
Monkey, an orphan, is saved from death by the monks he used to call brothers by a smooth-talking merchant: he offers the monks various supplies in exchanges for Monkey's life, but equates them to six bolts of valuable silk. While grateful to be spared, Monkey has no respect for his new master, Samir, finding him an odious airbag and a liar. As they travel across the Silk Road, gaining and losing (mostly losing) various companions, Monkey is horrified to learn that seven ferocious killers are after Samir. If Samir is killed, Monkey will, once again, be alone. And so he vows to save the merchant he respects so little, hoping to win his freedom.
It's such a shame when you get a beautiful ARC and you don't like it... my main issue here is audience: who is this for? All the publicity/publication material says middle grade, but very few middle graders would be attracted to this without some hand-selling, and I would not want to do the work for that because those few kids who would be attracted would, justifiably, find it boring, slow, and confusing. The illustrations are nice (black-and-white rather than in color for the ARC, of course, which isn't an issue) and some are beautiful, but I'm not sure what they add to the story, and make it feel younger.
There is, theoretically, a lot of action here: a chase through a spice market, a frantic escape from a burning inn, lots of running for your life... but it's not exciting to read. The language is flowery and overwrought, except when there are jarring modern-day colloquialisms thrown in; Monkey is a hypocrite and reads much older (I think he's supposed to be 11/12 but you could tell me he's in his mid-20's and I wouldn't blink an eye); there's a lot of leaps of logic I couldn't follow even with careful re-reading; and events move much too fast for them to be impactful. Nayeri talks about his fascination with the Silk Road and goes over some of the research he's done in his author's note, and I don't doubt that, but there are some details that make me think he skimped on the research in other areas (particularly the Viking berserker).
There are some beautiful quotes and ideas and phrases in here, for sure, and Samir's character is beautifully revealed as the story progresses (his fast-talking and ability to get out of any situation is truly astounding and the only enjoyable parts of the book).
But, again, we come to the question of audience: very very few middle schoolers are reading novels purely for the pleasure of beautiful language, and even if there are, there are books with beautiful writing that are more exciting and/or relatable. There's something to be said for stories in settings and time periods that are not commonly seen (I can't believe there aren't more Silk Road adventure stories! What a ripe opportunity!), but they have to be engaging. Our library has Nayeri's debut, and in three years it's been checked out once (and the student didn't finish it!). I think he would have a lot more success if he aimed for a higher, more mature audience: upper high school or even new adult.
This feels like the kind of book that adults want middle schoolers to like: beautifully written books that introduce you to new concepts and ideas and ways of thinking, that encourage you to take your time. But that's not the reality. When you push these kinds of books on kids, that's when they start to think reading is boring, or hard, or a waste of time. If a kid comes across this naturally and manages to stick it through, they'll be rewarded, but the chances of that happening are so rare, and my library doesn't have the money to waste on a book that won't circulate, no matter how beautiful.
2 stars because there are some undeniable positives, but it's not enough as a whole.
EDIT: lol of course this won a Newberry Honor
Monkey, an orphan, is saved from death by the monks he used to call brothers by a smooth-talking merchant: he offers the monks various supplies in exchanges for Monkey's life, but equates them to six bolts of valuable silk. While grateful to be spared, Monkey has no respect for his new master, Samir, finding him an odious airbag and a liar. As they travel across the Silk Road, gaining and losing (mostly losing) various companions, Monkey is horrified to learn that seven ferocious killers are after Samir. If Samir is killed, Monkey will, once again, be alone. And so he vows to save the merchant he respects so little, hoping to win his freedom.
It's such a shame when you get a beautiful ARC and you don't like it... my main issue here is audience: who is this for? All the publicity/publication material says middle grade, but very few middle graders would be attracted to this without some hand-selling, and I would not want to do the work for that because those few kids who would be attracted would, justifiably, find it boring, slow, and confusing. The illustrations are nice (black-and-white rather than in color for the ARC, of course, which isn't an issue) and some are beautiful, but I'm not sure what they add to the story, and make it feel younger.
There is, theoretically, a lot of action here: a chase through a spice market, a frantic escape from a burning inn, lots of running for your life... but it's not exciting to read. The language is flowery and overwrought, except when there are jarring modern-day colloquialisms thrown in; Monkey is a hypocrite and reads much older (I think he's supposed to be 11/12 but you could tell me he's in his mid-20's and I wouldn't blink an eye); there's a lot of leaps of logic I couldn't follow even with careful re-reading; and events move much too fast for them to be impactful. Nayeri talks about his fascination with the Silk Road and goes over some of the research he's done in his author's note, and I don't doubt that, but there are some details that make me think he skimped on the research in other areas (particularly the Viking berserker).
There are some beautiful quotes and ideas and phrases in here, for sure, and Samir's character is beautifully revealed as the story progresses (his fast-talking and ability to get out of any situation is truly astounding and the only enjoyable parts of the book).
But, again, we come to the question of audience: very very few middle schoolers are reading novels purely for the pleasure of beautiful language, and even if there are, there are books with beautiful writing that are more exciting and/or relatable. There's something to be said for stories in settings and time periods that are not commonly seen (I can't believe there aren't more Silk Road adventure stories! What a ripe opportunity!), but they have to be engaging. Our library has Nayeri's debut, and in three years it's been checked out once (and the student didn't finish it!). I think he would have a lot more success if he aimed for a higher, more mature audience: upper high school or even new adult.
This feels like the kind of book that adults want middle schoolers to like: beautifully written books that introduce you to new concepts and ideas and ways of thinking, that encourage you to take your time. But that's not the reality. When you push these kinds of books on kids, that's when they start to think reading is boring, or hard, or a waste of time. If a kid comes across this naturally and manages to stick it through, they'll be rewarded, but the chances of that happening are so rare, and my library doesn't have the money to waste on a book that won't circulate, no matter how beautiful.
2 stars because there are some undeniable positives, but it's not enough as a whole.
EDIT: lol of course this won a Newberry Honor
May 30, 2023
This book is described as being a children’s book, and it is indeed written on a level that younger readers can comprehend. But this is really a book for adults. The story involves an orphan boy who is in danger of being killed by a group of monks, and is saved by a merchant/conman with the gift of gab, who is himself trying to avoid being killed by multiple assassins. The two become traveling companions together on an adventure along the ancient Silk Road…. Sounds like a typical kid’s story to me! Or not. Anyway, the story is actually quite compelling—exciting, charming, funny, and ultimately touching. It’s also a book that can be read in one or two sittings. I enjoyed it very much!
April 21, 2024
I’m not quite sure where to begin to describe this book. Is it historical fiction, set in the twelfth century, immersing the reader in the Silk Road? Yes, but is it also fantastical and whimsical? Yes, but is it also philosophical and deep? Yes, but is it also enjoyable as an adult? Yes, but is it also a story of adventure for children. Yes. Yes, I think it is all those things and more.
The size of the book and beautiful color illustrations make this feel like a modern classic. And yet I also felt off kilter for parts of the book, uncertain if the story-within-a-story was the main plot or just side elements. I was wholly entertained, drawn along by both side and main story components, but as an adult reader, definitely asking too many questions along the way. (One of these questions was, is this a book for adolescents?) The final chapters nudge this book from good to great, even though it is incredibly written throughout. As an adult I loved the author’s note which gave historical context to so much of the story and made me really love it. This is a story that would have resonated with me as a kid. An adventure story with layers, with stories on top of stories, with absurdity and depth, with twists and turns.
I gave it four stars because I loved EVERYTHING SAD IS UNTRUE so much and I didn’t love this one the same way. But is it a four star book? Is it a five star book? Does it even matter? I just know I’ll be thinking about this one for quite some time.
The size of the book and beautiful color illustrations make this feel like a modern classic. And yet I also felt off kilter for parts of the book, uncertain if the story-within-a-story was the main plot or just side elements. I was wholly entertained, drawn along by both side and main story components, but as an adult reader, definitely asking too many questions along the way. (One of these questions was, is this a book for adolescents?) The final chapters nudge this book from good to great, even though it is incredibly written throughout. As an adult I loved the author’s note which gave historical context to so much of the story and made me really love it. This is a story that would have resonated with me as a kid. An adventure story with layers, with stories on top of stories, with absurdity and depth, with twists and turns.
I gave it four stars because I loved EVERYTHING SAD IS UNTRUE so much and I didn’t love this one the same way. But is it a four star book? Is it a five star book? Does it even matter? I just know I’ll be thinking about this one for quite some time.
April 18, 2023
4.25*
Hurray, another book by Daniel Nayeri!
With "Everything Sad is Untrue" Daniel Nayeri already established himself as an auto-buy author for me - writing witty yet tenderly and weaving extremely wonderous tales of belonging and identity.
In many ways, this book isn't too different from his debut. It tells the story of a thrice-orphan finding a new family, in the company of a man who impersonates everything he morally despises. It's a wild and raucous tale of adventure and well... the many assassinations of Samir (the self-proclaimed seller of dreams, whatever your opinion is on that title).
At times, it could have been even more emotionally raw, deep, and maybe a little longer (I just started truly caring about these characters, and then the book is already over - I need a sequel!).
But overall, it was exactly what I expected from Nayeri's book and proves what a great storyteller he is. Plus, I highly recommend the audiobook as the author narrates it, making this an even better experience.
Hurray, another book by Daniel Nayeri!
With "Everything Sad is Untrue" Daniel Nayeri already established himself as an auto-buy author for me - writing witty yet tenderly and weaving extremely wonderous tales of belonging and identity.
In many ways, this book isn't too different from his debut. It tells the story of a thrice-orphan finding a new family, in the company of a man who impersonates everything he morally despises. It's a wild and raucous tale of adventure and well... the many assassinations of Samir (the self-proclaimed seller of dreams, whatever your opinion is on that title).
At times, it could have been even more emotionally raw, deep, and maybe a little longer (I just started truly caring about these characters, and then the book is already over - I need a sequel!).
But overall, it was exactly what I expected from Nayeri's book and proves what a great storyteller he is. Plus, I highly recommend the audiobook as the author narrates it, making this an even better experience.
January 4, 2023
I very much enjoyed this journey that Nayeri crafts along the silk road.
Ok, comparisons first: It isn't as compelling of a story as Everything Sad is Untrue (A True Story), yet it still holds his whimsical, spell-binding character of story teller in a powerful way. This is a smart follow up to the breakthrough tale he weaves in Everything is Sad as he continues to celebrate the classic story-tellers style of the Arabian tradition and tell the simple story of a unattached child who is trying to find his way in the world. For those who struggled with the narrative flow of the first book, this is a much more linear story, but that doesn't diminish the whimsy of Nayeri's narrative voice--which I thoroughly enjoy!
I also very much appreciated the plot point parallels to the circumstances of modern world problems and the emotions many feel while navigating the chaotic realities of modern life. This is another hope-filled journey that doesn't ignore the hard felt realities of life, but provides a marvelous model to navigate the twists and turns and ultimatly maintains a tenacious perspective of "hope beyond all hope" in the larger forces that exists beyond the physical realities we can see in the world.
Ok, comparisons first: It isn't as compelling of a story as Everything Sad is Untrue (A True Story), yet it still holds his whimsical, spell-binding character of story teller in a powerful way. This is a smart follow up to the breakthrough tale he weaves in Everything is Sad as he continues to celebrate the classic story-tellers style of the Arabian tradition and tell the simple story of a unattached child who is trying to find his way in the world. For those who struggled with the narrative flow of the first book, this is a much more linear story, but that doesn't diminish the whimsy of Nayeri's narrative voice--which I thoroughly enjoy!
I also very much appreciated the plot point parallels to the circumstances of modern world problems and the emotions many feel while navigating the chaotic realities of modern life. This is another hope-filled journey that doesn't ignore the hard felt realities of life, but provides a marvelous model to navigate the twists and turns and ultimatly maintains a tenacious perspective of "hope beyond all hope" in the larger forces that exists beyond the physical realities we can see in the world.
July 6, 2023
This is not a book for kids. It's a book that adults want kids to read and will push on them. The pace is too slow, the main character doesn't even sound like a kid or teen. There really are not that many kids or teens in the story. I work in two different libraries and can't imagine who I would recommend this to. The setting is interesting, but in general, this book doesn't really do anything new. Samir is a loveable trickster. I am sure this book is going to win many awards but I'd be surprised if it was ever a favorite among kids or teens.
May 8, 2023
Mulling this one over. I might bump it up a star…
Yep. Bumped it up a star upon second reading!
Yep. Bumped it up a star upon second reading!
June 15, 2024
A wild tale, well told, with a surprise twist at the end. We listened to the audio book on a road trip with our teenager.
March 6, 2025
Samir the swindler is a cat-with-9-lives paradox—the Han Solo of the Silk Road, if you will. He scams his way through the highway and byways of ancient Persia with his trusty donkey Rostam as his Millennium Falcom, and his slave-boy Monkey as his resourceful Chewbacca.
Despite a soft spot in my heart for Solo, I’m generally not a “let’s cheer for the antihero” kind of reader. After watching “The Italian Job,” I mentally re-wrote the ending to give a more satisfying recompense to all the families who had been victimized in the heist. Weird, I know. But that’s the mentality that made it hard for me to give a 5th star to “The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams.”
On the other hand, the storytelling was pretty fantastic, and to be fair, Monkey as narrator repeatedly paints Samir as a despicable villain. Ultimately, the story is more about the coming-of-age of an aimless ruffian and the forging of an abiding friendship, than it is about celebrating a life of crime. Maybe there is a little redemption for Samir mixed in there too? I’d appreciate thoughts from other readers on that question. Still puzzling over it myself.
~Jen
Despite a soft spot in my heart for Solo, I’m generally not a “let’s cheer for the antihero” kind of reader. After watching “The Italian Job,” I mentally re-wrote the ending to give a more satisfying recompense to all the families who had been victimized in the heist. Weird, I know. But that’s the mentality that made it hard for me to give a 5th star to “The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams.”
On the other hand, the storytelling was pretty fantastic, and to be fair, Monkey as narrator repeatedly paints Samir as a despicable villain. Ultimately, the story is more about the coming-of-age of an aimless ruffian and the forging of an abiding friendship, than it is about celebrating a life of crime. Maybe there is a little redemption for Samir mixed in there too? I’d appreciate thoughts from other readers on that question. Still puzzling over it myself.
~Jen
January 14, 2024
I loved this. It’s a fun adventure story about a boy who is bought as a servant by a man called Samir, who is a huckster on the Silk Road. Everywhere he goes, Samir charms and sells and exaggerates, and talks his way into selling things for far more than they are worth. He and Monkey, the serving boy, travel with a caravan of colorful characters.
Because of Samir’s overselling, he leaves a path of enemies behind him, who, in turn, hire various assassins to kill him in revenge.
For a story about murder and conning, it’s really kind of wholesome? I don’t know, I adored the characters, including the donkey Rostam (spelling? I listened, sorry!) The sense of adventure is grand. The found family is endearing and charming.
Highly recommend this. It’s middle grade YA and I’m thinking about buying a copy to reread with my daughter. I have no real critiques other than it went by too fast!
Because of Samir’s overselling, he leaves a path of enemies behind him, who, in turn, hire various assassins to kill him in revenge.
For a story about murder and conning, it’s really kind of wholesome? I don’t know, I adored the characters, including the donkey Rostam (spelling? I listened, sorry!) The sense of adventure is grand. The found family is endearing and charming.
Highly recommend this. It’s middle grade YA and I’m thinking about buying a copy to reread with my daughter. I have no real critiques other than it went by too fast!
November 4, 2024
This was an easy, interesting read. I love catchy first lines and this one made me laugh as well as had me hooked; "The first time I was stoned to death by an angry mob, I was not even a criminal." There was another line that made me stop reading for a moment; "'Is there a third thing in this world, at least as powerful as Life and Death?' . . . 'Well,' I said, 'I believe it was Love.'"
There is much more in this book than those two lines, but for me, those focused my reading as I enjoyed the weaving, vibrant tale of merchants on the Silk Road in the eleventh century. Four stars because I would definitely read it again and I recommend it to you.
There is much more in this book than those two lines, but for me, those focused my reading as I enjoyed the weaving, vibrant tale of merchants on the Silk Road in the eleventh century. Four stars because I would definitely read it again and I recommend it to you.
May 13, 2024
I love how the author brings the colorful culture of his people to life. It's an action-packed walk through ancient Pursian storytelling. Murder, lies, betrayal, thievery, love, religion, camels, family, friendship.... this story has it all!
September 18, 2025
⁺˚⋆｡°₊°｡⋆˚⁺⁺˚⋆｡°₊°｡⋆˚⁺⁺˚⋆｡°₊°｡⋆˚⁺⁺˚⋆｡°⁺˚⋆｡°₊°｡⋆
I would not recommend this book to anyone, unless you want to suffer like I did when I read this at eleven years old. Nothing made sense and all the characters are delusional, in like the worst way possible. I don't understand how this book has any good ratings or reviews. I would never subject anyone to this kind of torture. This book should be called the many assassination attempts of Samir the seller of dreams, because no one secedhe isn't actually assassinated even once. The book starts of with Omar saying "The first time I was stoned to death by an angry mob. I wasn't even a criminal." Can you guess how many times he was stoned to death? None not one single time. Sigh*
The characters
~~~~~~~~~~
Omar ~ where do I even start? Ok so Omar is this eleven year old kid you got in trouble with some monks. Why? Because he had the crazy idea that love is a real thing. This boy drove me insane, he has this weird infatuation with a girls bare underarms...as if that wasn't weird enough he's also a pathological liar, nothing that comes out of that boys mouth should be believed.
Mara ~ This girl. So she is some sort of Performer or something with her father. I don't understand why Omar had such a big crush on her, like everything she said to him was passive aggressive or condescending. She was honestly just toxic imo.
Samir ~ This guy was so annoying, I don't even know how to get across to you how infuriating he was. So many people want to kill him, and he couldn't care less. It's like he thinks he's invincible or something. Idrk he sold "dreams" and that's about it.
Papa ~ he was Mara's father I guess, it kinda seems like he was maybe like a friend posing as her father for some reason or another but it was never really confirmed nor denied.
What to expect
🪨 Boring plot
🪨 Way to much gore for middle grade
🪨 Ridiculous plot twists
🪨 A magic system that makes no sense
🪨 Extremely unreliable narrator
🪨 Over explain-y monologues
🪨 mysteries that never get solved
🪨 A terrible and extremely confusing ending
🪨 Boring dialogue
🪨 Fights in which Omar is left unscathed while the grown man is dead or severely injured
Favorite parts/things I liked
........
Content
~~~~~~~
❤️🔥Romance| Omar has a crush on Mara
🤬Language| none that I remember
🗡️Violence| Gore, blood, fighting, attempted murder, Murder
🏳️🌈LGBTQ| I don't think there was anything
⚠️Other| animal death, Betrayal, house Fire
I would not recommend this book to anyone, unless you want to suffer like I did when I read this at eleven years old. Nothing made sense and all the characters are delusional, in like the worst way possible. I don't understand how this book has any good ratings or reviews. I would never subject anyone to this kind of torture. This book should be called the many assassination attempts of Samir the seller of dreams, because no one secedhe isn't actually assassinated even once. The book starts of with Omar saying "The first time I was stoned to death by an angry mob. I wasn't even a criminal." Can you guess how many times he was stoned to death? None not one single time. Sigh*
The characters
~~~~~~~~~~
Omar ~ where do I even start? Ok so Omar is this eleven year old kid you got in trouble with some monks. Why? Because he had the crazy idea that love is a real thing. This boy drove me insane, he has this weird infatuation with a girls bare underarms...as if that wasn't weird enough he's also a pathological liar, nothing that comes out of that boys mouth should be believed.
Mara ~ This girl. So she is some sort of Performer or something with her father. I don't understand why Omar had such a big crush on her, like everything she said to him was passive aggressive or condescending. She was honestly just toxic imo.
Samir ~ This guy was so annoying, I don't even know how to get across to you how infuriating he was. So many people want to kill him, and he couldn't care less. It's like he thinks he's invincible or something. Idrk he sold "dreams" and that's about it.
Papa ~ he was Mara's father I guess, it kinda seems like he was maybe like a friend posing as her father for some reason or another but it was never really confirmed nor denied.
What to expect
🪨 Boring plot
🪨 Way to much gore for middle grade
🪨 Ridiculous plot twists
🪨 A magic system that makes no sense
🪨 Extremely unreliable narrator
🪨 Over explain-y monologues
🪨 mysteries that never get solved
🪨 A terrible and extremely confusing ending
🪨 Boring dialogue
🪨 Fights in which Omar is left unscathed while the grown man is dead or severely injured
Favorite parts/things I liked
........
Content
~~~~~~~
❤️🔥Romance| Omar has a crush on Mara
🤬Language| none that I remember
🗡️Violence| Gore, blood, fighting, attempted murder, Murder
🏳️🌈LGBTQ| I don't think there was anything
⚠️Other| animal death, Betrayal, house Fire
September 20, 2024
Almost DOA> but I have trouble not finishing a book. This felt like a reading assignment for school. I don't see the kid appeal here at all. It'll be a hard sell, but interesting to see the circ stats after it's been here a while. It was definitely worth reading though.
April 17, 2023
The same playfully masterful storytelling from his memoir-novel, Everything Sad Is Untrue. I loved that one more, but this was delightful in its own right.
July 20, 2023
So many narrow and hilarious escapes. IMO, Nayeri is one of the best writers of today, however he does write for the most intelligent children. I am aggrieved there was no map.
October 21, 2024
This felt like a bedtime story. It was an adventure packed full of plot twists to discover the meaning of love.
March 24, 2023
A fun adventure with some pathos mixed in (a Nayeri specialty, I'm coming to suspect). The gorgeous color illustrations add so much.
April 3, 2024
I get it. A lot of the people who gave this book a bad review or had questions about it were due to the audience: if it’s marketed to children, what child do they give a book like this (historical fiction told in an oral storytelling narrative kind of a style that asks philosophical questions and contains some violent scenes)? While I’m not sure that I can answer that question, I don’t think that makes a book bad. This book may not be for everyone, but for those with the right kind of intelligence and curiosity, it will take them on a magical journey and open their minds to new ideas…and an old way of storytelling that feels new in a world that rarely uses it. Isn’t that what good literature should do?
I’ll admit that I didn’t love this one quite as much as Nayeri’s Everything Sad Is Untrue and that this one lost me a little during some of the slower parts, but the action and the ending redeemed its fifth star for me. I listened to this one, just like I did Nayeri’s Everything…, and while I do want to look at the print book to check out the pictures, I HIGHLY recommend listening to the audiobook. Unlike some authors who narrate their own books, Nayeri is an excellent narrator…though I feel like I should say storyteller because every time I listen to one of his books, I feel like he is in front of me and whisks me away to the location of the story for the telling, this time a desert in the 11th century on the Silk Road.
Going back to the question of who do you give this story to…I believe (the higher end of) middle grade is the right place for it, though many adults will appreciate it as much or more than a middle grader. Certainly, it’s not a book for everyone, and not one that I would hand to reluctant readers. But, your smart super readers, try it. Introduce the concept and let them decide whether or not to take the chance, but it’s not like much else out there. If you can get the right readers to take a chance on reading this, they just might find something they didn’t know they were looking for, just as Monkey did with Samir.
I’ll admit that I didn’t love this one quite as much as Nayeri’s Everything Sad Is Untrue and that this one lost me a little during some of the slower parts, but the action and the ending redeemed its fifth star for me. I listened to this one, just like I did Nayeri’s Everything…, and while I do want to look at the print book to check out the pictures, I HIGHLY recommend listening to the audiobook. Unlike some authors who narrate their own books, Nayeri is an excellent narrator…though I feel like I should say storyteller because every time I listen to one of his books, I feel like he is in front of me and whisks me away to the location of the story for the telling, this time a desert in the 11th century on the Silk Road.
Going back to the question of who do you give this story to…I believe (the higher end of) middle grade is the right place for it, though many adults will appreciate it as much or more than a middle grader. Certainly, it’s not a book for everyone, and not one that I would hand to reluctant readers. But, your smart super readers, try it. Introduce the concept and let them decide whether or not to take the chance, but it’s not like much else out there. If you can get the right readers to take a chance on reading this, they just might find something they didn’t know they were looking for, just as Monkey did with Samir.
May 1, 2023
If you don't laugh at the idea of a secret chess club called "The Brotherhood of the Checkered Pastime," this book may not be for you.
It's VERY MUCH for me!
It's VERY MUCH for me!
August 31, 2023
I would read a grocery list if it was written by Daniel Nayeri.
April 21, 2024
I really wanted to give this a higher rating!!!! The writing is so pretty but story didn’t pick up until halfway through :( It was still very fun and I especially enjoyed the last 50 pages!
September 2, 2025
I loved this! I opened the hardback (with sumptuous full-page paintings by Daniel Miyares), and, on a whim, checked who narrated the audiobook. Daniel Nayeri! Thus I gave this book my top treatment: listening to the narration + reading the words. Glorious!
The setting is 11th-century Silk Road. A servant boy (Monkey) facing death by a mob is saved and fostered by Samir, a smooth-talking merchant who tells stories like other people breathe. I couldn't help wondering if Samir is based on Nayeri's father.
Ah, the phrases enraptured me:
red saffron threads, yellow turmeric, purple sumac, blue salt, black pepper, brown sugar, and green dried sage.
red Sichuan peppercorns, yellow mustard, purple basil, blue juniper, black sesame, brown cumin, and green ginger.
...still laughing at the remains of a joke.
we need your monkey arms, not your monkish charms
As Monkey tells his story he often pauses and says, "Let this be a lesson." Here is my favorite:
Let this be a lesson. Life is only disappointing if there is nothing after it. Otherwise, life is our time in a craftsman's hands — the way a piece of wood is carved into a spoon by a carpenter or reeds are woven by a basket weaver. We grow into whatever we allow to be made of us, and we're sold - like the spoon or the basket. Our afterlife isn't the market or the workshop. It's in the home of our master, whatever master we have spent our lives serving.
The setting is 11th-century Silk Road. A servant boy (Monkey) facing death by a mob is saved and fostered by Samir, a smooth-talking merchant who tells stories like other people breathe. I couldn't help wondering if Samir is based on Nayeri's father.
Ah, the phrases enraptured me:
red saffron threads, yellow turmeric, purple sumac, blue salt, black pepper, brown sugar, and green dried sage.
red Sichuan peppercorns, yellow mustard, purple basil, blue juniper, black sesame, brown cumin, and green ginger.
...still laughing at the remains of a joke.
we need your monkey arms, not your monkish charms
As Monkey tells his story he often pauses and says, "Let this be a lesson." Here is my favorite:
Let this be a lesson. Life is only disappointing if there is nothing after it. Otherwise, life is our time in a craftsman's hands — the way a piece of wood is carved into a spoon by a carpenter or reeds are woven by a basket weaver. We grow into whatever we allow to be made of us, and we're sold - like the spoon or the basket. Our afterlife isn't the market or the workshop. It's in the home of our master, whatever master we have spent our lives serving.
Read
April 26, 2024I loved reading this after meeting Daniel Nayeri at the Hopewords conference a couple of weeks ago. The themes of family and love were beautiful in a story that took twists and turns I never quite expected.
June 27, 2023
The style and subject of this book weren't my cup of tea, but the writing was beautiful and the insights were profound. I can see Luke loving this book in a couple years and I'll be excited to put it in his hands.
March 8, 2023
An adventure from beginning to end, Nayeri knocks this one out of the park with his characteristic flair. So many marvelous twists and turns and it's always a treat to hear the author read it himself in the audiobook. Nayeri is a true storyteller.
February 14, 2024
I started this and wasn’t paying the best attention and thought I liked it, but wasn’t exactly sure, so I started again and I really like it, so although you could classify it as YA, you do need to pay attention. Author is the narrator and he does a great job.
If you like stories, you’ll like this—fairy tale-ish, folk lore, once upon a time…all with a middle eastern spin. My 14 year old picked up the hard bound book and enjoyed it too. Super short, would be fun to listen on a family road trip.
If you like stories, you’ll like this—fairy tale-ish, folk lore, once upon a time…all with a middle eastern spin. My 14 year old picked up the hard bound book and enjoyed it too. Super short, would be fun to listen on a family road trip.
August 30, 2024
truly crazy that this man continues to hide some of the most profound thoughts about love and life and God I have ever read in my entire life in children’s books, but in the end that is the secret magic of all middle grade books. anyways this one was not as good as everything sad is untrue (though what possibly could be) but still so fun and lovely.
February 19, 2024
If there were a novel about some kind of middle-grade appropriate Monty Python itinerant troupe struggling along the 14th century Silk Road, it would be this darkly comedic picaresque novel. Perhaps not for every reader, it took me some pages to fully immerse myself, but once I got there, it was delightfully odd.
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