In 1972, when she was seven, Firoozeh Dumas and her family moved from Iran to Southern California, arriving with no firsthand knowledge of this country beyond her father’s glowing memories of his graduate school years here. More family soon followed, and the clan has been here ever since. Funny in Farsi chronicles the American journey of Dumas’s wonderfully engaging family: her engineer father, … engineer father, a sweetly quixotic dreamer who first sought riches on Bowling for Dollars and in Las Vegas, and later lost his job during the Iranian revolution; her elegant mother, who never fully mastered English (nor cared to); her uncle, who combated the effects of American fast food with an army of miraculous American weight-loss gadgets; and Firoozeh herself, who as a girl changed her name to Julie, and who encountered a second wave of culture shock when she met and married a Frenchman, becoming part of a one-couple melting pot.
In a series of deftly drawn scenes, we watch the family grapple with American English (hot dogs and hush puppies?—a complete mystery), American traditions (Thanksgiving turkey?—an even greater mystery, since it tastes like nothing), and American culture (Firoozeh’s parents laugh uproariously at Bob Hope on television, although they don’t get the jokes even when she translates them into Farsi).
Above all, this is an unforgettable story of identity, discovery, and the power of family love. It is a book that will leave us all laughing—without an accent.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Finalist for the PEN/USA Award in Creative Nonfiction, the Thurber Prize for American Humor, and the Audie Award in Biography/Memoir
This Random House Reader’s Circle edition includes a reading group guide and a conversation between Firoozeh Dumas and Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner!
Praise for Funny in Farsi
“Remarkable . . . told with wry humor shorn of sentimentality . . . In the end, what sticks with the reader is an exuberant immigrant embrace of America.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“Heartfelt and hilarious—in any language.”—Glamour
“A joyful success.”—Newsday
“What’s charming beyond the humor of this memoir is that it remains affectionate even in the weakest, most tenuous moments for the culture. It’s the brilliance of true sophistication at work.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Often hilarious, always interesting . . . Like the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, this book describes with humor the intersection and overlapping of two cultures.”—The Providence Journal
“A humorous and introspective chronicle of a life filled with love—of family, country, and heritage.”—Jimmy Carter
“Delightfully refreshing.”—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“[Funny in Farsi] brings us closer to discovering what it means to be an American.”—San Jose Mercury News
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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If you find other cultures interesting, you will enjoy this story of this Persian family and their American experience.
One of the funniest books I have ever read. Firoozah has given me great insight into an Iranian family and their hopes and dreams – though they obviously had some financial advantages – moving to Laguna Beach where rents are astronomical. It’s not a story of poverty but is a story of a family having to leave an oppressive homeland to find better …
I loved this book. I have purchased twenty or more Book Bub books. This was the best. I highly recommend it to you. Funny and poignant. I loved the series of stories, vignettes really, of what seems normal to us but was so surprising to an immigrant. I was a middle school science and math teacher before retiring and was lucky to have several …
Best book I’ve read in a long time!
A ver light read but a very short book.
This was a wonderful book! I listened to the audio – read by the author. I will probably listen to it again in the future. I just think that in this time of some people hating others of a different race, this book should be read again and again. It NEVER hurts us to learn about others. How they came to be here, or anywhere, and what their lives …
A sweet book, more a series of out-of-order vignettes depicting Dumas’ experiences as a young Iranian immigrant in southern California. She pokes gentle fun at her parents’ bewilderment of American culture while infusing her words with unending love and respect for them and her extended family.
I would NEVER miss one of Firoozeh’s books! I read her second book first and I fell in love with her, and couldn’t wait to read this one. She’s the kind of writer whom I would just love to know personally, and know she has to fill those around her with love and laughter. (perhaps not EVERY moment, but often). Thank you, Firoozeh for many …
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. At times two cultures clash but indeed she writes it in such a way that it is funny. Even when she criticizes her parents for their old fashioned believes, you feel the love that rules in this family.
Interesting book. This isn’t exactly a laugh-out-loud “funny” book. However, it’s interesting to read these stories (essays) because they’re told from the perspective of a first-generation highly-educated Iranian immigrant which in turn provide plenty of humorous moments. Good for those interested in inter-cultural perspectives.
Was so interesting to see America through another’s eyes. Really enjoyed the read.
A fun read about Persian immigrants. An inside look at their experiences in the US.
I am a great fan of both memoirs and novels that tell me stories about people from different ethnic, religious and racial backgrounds. It gives me greater understanding of other people and transports me to other places. I think it is especially important now to read about the challenges that people face when they move to another country. It is …
Very good look at America from an immigrant’s perspective. Entertaining.
I loved this book! It is the heart warming story of a an Iranian family and their acclimation to the country they adopted, America. Filled with anecdotes of their daily life you come to really care about them and their wonderful quirks and strong ties to each other. I laughed out loud in some places and was genuinely touched in others, and in …
I never expected that someone else’s memoir would stir up so many of my own memories – and my family has lived here for generations! It just goes to show that people are people no matter where they are from.
Very light but with insights to the experience of immigrating to America.
Delightful read.
Well written.