Memoir From Funny in Farsi by Firooze Dumas Work Sheet
Description
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!
"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
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, 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.
Praise for Funny in Farsi
"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
About the author
New York Times bestselling author Firoozeh Dumas was born in Abadan, Iran, and moved to Whittier, California at the age of seven. After a two-year stay, she and her family moved back to Iran and lived in Ahvaz and Tehran. Two years later, they moved back to Whittier, then to Newport Beach. She lives in Munich, Germany, with her husband and three children.
Reviews
What people think about Funny in Farsi
3.7
Reader reviews
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Funny in Farsi is a memoir by a woman who grew up in both Iran and the United States. Her family moved to the United States in 1972, when Firoozeh Dumas was seven years old. Neither she or her mother spoke any English, although her father had some experience with the country from graduate school. After two years, they moved back to Iran, but later returned to the United States. More family members followed until almost all of the family was living in California. Funny in Farsi is a collection of antecedents and stories about Firoozeh Dumas's life and family.The best thing about Funny in Farsi is that true to the title, it's hilarious. I was laughing out loud at many parts and got some strange looks from people around me. One of my favorite parts was the chapter where she talked about her uncle, who was visiting them from Iran. While in America, he developed a taste for fast food. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it wasn't too long before the clothes he brought with him no longer fit. When it became time for him to go back to Iran, he decided to lose weight. His method? Call the numbers on TV adds promising quick weight loss. This resulted in him being sent a full body reflective suit which he was supposed to wear before meals. He decided that it would be far more effective to wear the suit all day long.While most of the book is funny, there are a few more sobering sections, mostly relating to the Iranian Revolution. When her family first came to the United States, she found Americans overwhelmingly friendly and welcoming. Then the hostage crisis happened. Overnight, her father lost his job and anti-Iranian bumper stickers began appearing."Throughout his job ordeal, my father never complained. He remained an Iranian who loved his native country but who also believed in American ideals. He only said how sad it was that people so easily hate an entire population simply because of the actions of a few. And what a waste it is to hate, he always said. What a waste."Firoozeh Dumas's warmth and humor shine on every page of Funny in Farsi. I loved reading it and would highly recommend it.Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
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I enjoyed this book despite a couple of moments when the author seems a bit full of herself and definitely cheesy! What I enjoyed is the message that not all immigrant families are poor and fleeing a disaster: for some, the US is a move for work, just like other families. Some good chapters to excerpt include "A Dozen Key Chains", "It's All Relatives" and "Judges Paid Off"
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A fun little book. A memoir told with humor and love.
Dumas's immigrant experiences are somewhat universal, except possibly for the outright hatred of Iranians in the US after the hostage crisis. Most of her stories are thankfully before that period when Americans were open and friendly to them and I'm glad.
As with most immigrants, they love America so much because they do not take our abundance and freedoms for granted. -
A sweet memoir that is a very enjoyable read. Read by the author herself, Firoozeh tells stories of her family who immigrated to Southern California in the 1970's. Full of humor and good spirit, highly recommended.
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Funny in Farsi is also Funny in English, I laughed out loud several times (I don't usually do that when reading) and silently chuckled to myself at least once a page. This was a light and enjoyable read that I would recommend to everyone. It only took me two days of casual reading so it's well within everyone's capability to get through. It offered some unique comparisons of life in pre-revolutionary Iran (in which author Firoozeh Dumas grew up) and the 70's-80's of America. I found it interesting to find how much of her post Iranian revolution American immigrant experience matched with the experiences post 9/11 being married to a Muslim immigrant and having converted to Islam. I wonder if Iranian immigrants who came around the same time feel as though they have had to live through such discrimination twice (although 9/11's impact has been much longer lasting).I love the humorous approach she takes to her memoir. Many of the experiences remind me of my own similar experiences dealing with my immigrant husband and his family... her father funnily enough reminds me quite a bit of my own husband and several stories of her father could have been almost word for word describing experiences with my Egyptian husband 30-40 years later. In many ways I think much the experiences could have been had by any family who immigrates to the US... or maybe it's just any Middle Eastern family, I guess I don't really have too many personal examples to go on.While I really enjoyed reading this book and found it quite humorous... it also made me sad. Not that the content was sad in itself but that certain aspects were saddening to me as an American Muslim parent. It just makes me feel sad for those who are Muslim but don't really take Islam seriously enough in their own lives. It's in no way meant as a comment to judge the author or her family as Muslims but rather a reminder to myself about raising my own children as good practicing Muslims.My only complaint about the book is that it wasn't longer since I thought there were a lot of parts that could have been expanded but then it wouldn't have been as quick and light a read I suppose...
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I got this when it was an Audible "daily deal" and had modest expectations, so I was delighted when it turned to to be really enjoyable! A collection of discrete stories, these are funny, sweet, and shamelessly heartwarming. In the audio book version, Dumas reads her memoir of growing up in a large, close-knit extended Iranian family, both in the U.S. and in Iran, with great warmth and charm. Most of the stories are focused on her family – her parents, siblings, cousins, uncles and aunts – and many involve the differences between Iranian and American culture, always handled with a light touch. Firoozeh's family first lived in the U.S. first before the Iranian hostage crisis and, despite the breezy tone of the book she does convey the sudden change in the way that ordinary immigrant families were treated as a result of international events. Interesting and entertaining – three and a half stars.
Source: https://www.scribd.com/book/93744657/Funny-in-Farsi-A-Memoir-of-Growing-Up-Iranian-in-America
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