A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America - Funny in Farsi

This charming, well-written memoir looks fondly at the comical parts while skating deftly past the more difficult parts of growing up Iranian in America. As someone just a bit older than the author, I can't imagine it was easy for an Iranian family in the years after the revolution. But she makes it looks easy. The book's humor and discretion make for easy reading, but it also begs for perhaps just a touch more of the dark, to balance out the light.

This book had me smiling and laughing so many times! Firoozeh Dumas writes about her family with love and humor. You can't help but cheer for her, and want to know more about her and her charming family.

Very readable- I would recommend this book to readers that are interested in different cultures and the experience of immigrants. Funny stories that show the common human experience and dynamics of families.

Wow! This book was wonderful. It's rare to find a book that makes you laugh out loud, and provides characters that are so full of depth. Although, I guess since it's a memoir, maybe they're not considered "characters"? The parts where the book turned a little serious were just as entertaining, and very heartfelt.

As a first generation American (though not Iranian), maybe I was able to relate more to this book than others, and that's why it made such an impression on me? However, I'd guess that anyone from anywhere can appreciate Dumas' story and sense of humor.

It's a very quick read, and each story can almost just be read independently - yet, they weave together such a great story. Of course, once I read the first few stories, I didn't want to put the book down, so it didn't matter.

Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America is a genuine and amusing memoir of Firoozeh Dumas life as an Iranian American growing up in America in the 1970s. Dumas was born in Abadan, Iran and when she was seven she moved to Whittier, California with her family. After a few years, she returned to Iran, but then immigrated back to America. In 2003, Random House published her memoir and it became a bestseller. Dumas life is filled with struggles of prejudice and discrimination as well as love from her family. Her experiences, negative and positive, shape her identity and self-discovery. Dumas humor and easy talks makes her easy to relate to whether you are an immigrant or not. The numerous experience Dumas endures in America as an Iranian immigrant lead her to realize what is really important in life.

Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America is a memoir that teaches the reader the importance of love and family. Although, Firoozeh faced discrimination in America, she was still able to find happiness and make the best of her situation. As an immigrant, I found myself relating to a lot of aspects of Firoozeh's life, such as being a translator to the parents. The memoir is entertaining and fresh because of the variety of stories and the humor that is incorporated. Children and adults will find this memoir an enjoyable and memorable story that will stay with you long after the book is over. I would definitely recommend Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas.

I think anybody would enjoy this book. It's about an Iranian family who moves to the States, back to Iran, and back to the States. Especially anyone who has dealt witth colliding cultures will deffinately enjoy this.

I can echo many of the wonderful comments already made about this delightful memoir. My two cents here-- this was a required reading for a class I was taking, so I didn't begin the book with the best mindset. I hadn't chosen it myself. Essentially it was forced upon me, right? :)

But, I really enjoyed it. The author has a great talent of putting you "there," right in her skin as she goes through what is already a difficult time-- adolescence-- coupled with a culture shock that you would have to experience to truly understand.

And written this well, I can *almost* understand how hard that must be.

Enjoyed!

The reader learns as much about Americans as Iranians. The author provides a gentle but pointed look at the meeting , sometimes crashing of cultures, and the confusion and hilarity that is emitted.
It's a fairly short, fun, insightful read.

The reader learns as much about Americans as Iranians. The author provides a gentle but pointed look at the meeting , sometimes crashing of cultures, and the confusion and hilarity that is emitted.
It's a fairly short, fun, insightful read.

Thoroughly engaging. The more I read, the more I thought about the differences & similarities to my family. The family's stories were so lovingly & vividly retold with humor that I laughed from one chapter to the next. What a delight & privilege to share her cultural perspectives & have another lens to view my family.

Great book....simple, funny, realistic, and gives the general public insight as to what many people go through. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Also, it's a great book you can easy start and stop reading as each chapter is a new story!!

Although I came from a different continent, Mrs. Dumas' stories could have been mine. From not knowing Santa, to school being for work only, to my father being one of the original feminists insisting on women's education. I even translated for my mom for years, despite her having perfect English. Mrs. Dumas capably combines regular teen angst with the angst of being REALLY different.

The book was well-written and very well-edited. (I love that!!!). It is a fun, light-hearted look at growing up "different" in America. No one is a bad guy in this book. (Except for the small-minded types who live everywhere). I like when an author just tells a story with no axe to grind. Mrs. Dumas has achieved this ability deftly and sweetly.

I wish I could go to her family get-togethers! Although I'm really different, I bet I'd fit in.

I found this extremely funny, but partially because my husband's family comes from Iran (Jewish Iranians) and so much of it rang true - like the author's father's (my husband's) aversion to restaurants. I laughed out loud quite a lot as a read it. All in all a nice read showing a lot of the trials and tribulations of immigration to America in a humorous way and also a very nice tribute to America.

The only thing that I didn't like is Dumas' attitude toward her mother. Dumas feels so superior to her mother, sometimes coming close to contempt. "I had regarded my mother as a mere source of entertainment. This was a woman whose English required translation to English..." Dumas is far more sympathetic toward her aunt, who had never had an opportunity to learn, than towards her own mother.

Later in the book, she says that her mother asked her if she had included in the book the fact that she had never left her with a babysitter, how she always made sure to be there when her children came home from school. Dumas adds that "none of the above made it into the book." Why not? What's wrong with a little praise for a mother who devoted herself to raising her children. and why "mock her accent?" Isn't mocking a person's accent a rather ugly thing to do? Why is it acceptable when one is mocking one's own mother?

The treatment of her mother lost her a star in my review.

The book leaves almost the same taste as successful stand up comedies based on immigrant lives, like Russel Peters or Maz Jobrani shows. Most stories are excerpts of the life of an immigrant family confronting new situations in a comic way: Reaction to freebies and marketing, language problems in a restaurant, relationship with extended families, constant comparisons of everything (like prices) with homeland, etc.

The striking aspect of this book is Firoozeh's honesty in talking about her family and friends. At some times, Firoozeh's picky contempt for people's around her seems like an imitation of TMZ, mean and candid about real people for the sake of being funny. This funniness sometimes leaves a bitter taste afterwards; like the image depicted of Mr Jazayeri (the father), this hard working man full of dreams leading to his immigration. I felt a punch in my stomach when Mr Jazayeri tells "OK, if it is important for the book" when asks Firoozeh about his discomfort with the "America the Land of Free" chapter.

Her bitter criticism of things like plastic surgery, or beauty pageant, her uncles comment on using her maiden family name (she says the reason behind her uncle's comment is marketing for his son's plastic surgery practice), or uncle Neamatollah marriages, can only be digested if one treats the stories as episodes of a stand-up comedy. The problem is though, the book is about real people with real names. This reality makes helps the funny aspect of the book, but makes the reader wonder and sometimes uncomfortable about the reactions of the characters in the story. I guess even Firoozeh seems worried sometimes, for example when talking about reuniting with her in-laws. Some members of the family though are treated differently in the book than others. The father is the most picked upon, while there are not really any fun made of Francis, or Sean (Farshid) (except that Firoozeh complains that every decision in their family's been first consulted with Sean).

It's a good read if you look for something funny.