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Funny in Farsi & Laughing Without an Accent

February 26, 2009 by Dawn

The way I see it, memoirs provide a unique reading opportunity- a hybrid of sorts between nonfiction and fiction. There on the pages are the facts (or at least the subjective memories) of a person’s life, but the presentation is so often that of little stories pieced together, chapter by chapter, to form a bigger picture of one individual’s experiences. I enjoy stepping into the memories of others, and I most often appreciate when the storytelling is engaging while the humor factor is high. So it is with Firoozeh Dumas’ two memoirs, Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America and Laughing Without an Accent: Adventures of an Iranian American at Home and Abroad.

In Dumas’ first memoir, published in 2003, she introduces us to her childhood memories, from both Iran and the United States. While she made me laugh describing the idiosyncrasies of the English language for new learners (picture a seven year old accompanying her mother to the hardware store in search of a cleaner called ‘elbow grease’), the best moments of this memoir were her endearing, yet not overly sentimental, tales of the lessons her father imparted. Among my favorites, she describes her discovery at age six that the ham her father blissfully enjoys is actually forbidden in Islam, not previously knowing this in her secular Muslim family. When she confronts her father, he responds to her by emphasizing that what defines a good person is not as simple as one’s food choices, but what is in his heart. His generous and kind spirit sits side by side the author’s often wry sense of humor throughout this book.

Dumas picks the story back up in her second memoir, released in 2008, this time sharing stories of her college experience at UC Berkeley, meeting her French husband and the transition to motherhood while still living in a quite literal multicultural world. Again, her writing appeals to me for its inherent sense of humor that never disrespects even when gently poking fun at her family life. Her description of her first year of motherhood rose to the top of these stories for me– wryly funny and brutally honest, as usual.

If you’re in the mood for a quick read that engages your heart and your laughter, search no more. Firoozeh Dumas offers exactly that, with the voice of a good friend telling stories over a cup of hot tea.

Dawn needs to build more bookshelves. She can be found blogging to the sound of crickets chirping at my thoughts exactly.

Filed Under: Dawn, Memoir

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Comments

  1. Jennifer, Snapshot (and 5M4B) says

    February 26, 2009 at 1:44 pm

    This sounds so great. Right up my alley.

  2. S. Krishna says

    February 28, 2009 at 11:21 am

    Great review! I enjoyed these books as well, and reviewed Laughing Without an Accent here: http://www.skrishnasbooks.com/2008/09/laughing-without-accent-firoozeh-dumas.html

  3. Lucia says

    March 5, 2009 at 7:02 pm

    I just put both of these on hold at the library…thank you for the review and the suggestion!

  4. Sarah at SmallWorld Reads says

    November 15, 2009 at 1:47 pm

    I taught Funny in Farsi for a World Lit class (high school) earlier this year, and the kids absolutely LOVED it. It was a fantastic way to introduce kids to World Lit and to get them thinking outside of America.

Trackbacks

  1. Rooftops of Tehran says:
    May 29, 2009 at 6:01 pm

    […] including sections for history and culture and memoirs/novels/poetry. Recommended titles include Funny in Farsi (linked to the review that Dawn did here a few months ago), as well as the House of Sand and Fog […]

  2. Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas | A Good Stopping Point says:
    January 23, 2011 at 2:57 pm

    […] 5 Minutes for Books – ” . . . the best moments of this memoir were her endearing, yet not overly sentimental, tales of the lessons her father imparted.” […]

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