Funny in Farsi

Funny in Farsi

Book review by JT Y

Funny in Farsi is a memoir written by Firoozeh Dumas, a daughter of a petroleum engineer that moved to United States right before the Iranian Revolution. Told in a series of short stories, Firoozeh describes adjusting to the American culture and dealing with family’s issues in adjusting. Throughout the book Firoozeh shares her experiences from when she just moved to the United States to when she get married. This remarkable story of Firoozeh’s experiences as an Iranian immigrant is told with sarcastic humor. Funny in Farsi is a book I’d recommend to almost anyone.

When I started reading this book, I expected a sad read about immigrants that came to America at the wrong time. Firoozeh portrayed herself as a happy and lively girl in the midst of all the chaos around her. Although Iranian and American cultures may seem very different a first, by the end of the story, they seem to be most similar cultures in the world. But through the humor, she forces to to look at the irrational prejudiced regarding the people from Middle Eastern countries. Although this happened in the 80s, this prejudices seems to still resonate today

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I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast, and fun read. I hope that this book will gain more popularity in schools because, it is both entertaining and enlightening. I read this book in about two days, and I laughed my way through every chapter.