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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This was a book that helps you understand a different culture. It is told in a very funny and witty way. Having some members of my extended family from her country, I was laughing through a lot of it.
This is a very enjoyable book, which has a very positive take on the experience of being an immigrant in the USA. However Dumas says enough to make it clear that everything was not easy, particularly so after the revolution in Iran.
I enjoyed the humour, warmth and cultural insights of this book.
An incredible Iranian memoir with a balance of funny witty parts that made me laugh, and gut wrenching stories of what being Iranian in America was like at that time.
I always used to wonder why my mother always told me not to say I’m Iranian if I didn’t have to, and I think I finally understand why, because this memoir paints a very clear …
I loved reading about the author’s journey as an immigrant. Her stories were enlightening and hilarious and I couldn’t stop reading.
Laughed out loud for whole book
Very enjoyable to read about the funny and sad experiences that came with assimilating into United States society.
I felt like I learned something from this book. First of all ,looking thru the eyes of an emigrant to this country, but also looking at us thru an emigrants eyes. It was very enlightening and funny. The author has a light and easy way of writing. The book was hard to put down.
Loved this book! It gave a good view into a culture that I was not familiar with. And so funny!!
Loved the author’s honesty
I enjoyed it very much. Not heavy, but entertaining stories of the author’s family experience in coming to the US. Actually you realize how much we are all alike with parental embarrassment and odd extended family.
It was well-written and an easy read. I enjoyed it.
Charming, a delight.
I loved this book. It is s humorous view of the immigrant experience.
Warm description of loving family that happens to be Middle Eastern immigrants. Interesting peek into different culture.
I liked the Author so much that I wish she had written more. She stopped telling the story of her life too soon. I bet she has more funny stories about her family, parents, aunts & uncles plus her own marriage and children!
It was fun to learn about another culture through the family dynamics.
The jokes were predictable and did not inspire affection for any characters, and a lot of shame for being American. Not that I do not agree that the shame is deserved, just nothing fun or deep in the tale, which I did not even finish.
I enjoyed this unique experience giving me insight to immigrants lives.
Disjointed – would not recommend.
Very insightful of people immigrating to the US and what they go through, especially through the eyes and ears of a child.