--- product_id: 4570048 title: "Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America" price: "$30.24" currency: USD in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.us/products/4570048-funny-in-farsi-a-memoir-of-growing-up-iranian-in store_origin: US region: United States of America --- # Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America **Price:** $30.24 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America - **How much does it cost?** $30.24 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.us](https://www.desertcart.us/products/4570048-funny-in-farsi-a-memoir-of-growing-up-iranian-in) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## 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 Review: Strongly recommended - Funny in Farsi. Firoozeh Dumas. New York: Random House, 2003. 198 pp. Firoozeh Dumas arrived in America when his father was assigned to a two-year rotation as an engineer in the Iranian National Oil Company (INOC). After a brief return to her native country, she and her family settled in the US. Funny in Farsi is a humorous memoir recounting stories about her childhood in Iran and her adolescent and adult life in her adopted country. The book is composed of short stories, often involving her father and mother and members of her extended family and with funny twists that take place in awkward situations. Dumas was seven years old when she first arrived in America. Her father had obtained her Masters degree in the US as a Fulbright scholar and worked for INOC in the town of Abadan in Iran. Upon arrival in California, he joyfully volunteered to be his family’s interpreter as they prepared to make the most out of this two-year assignment. He was very fast taken over by Dumas in this effort as his English proved to be limited to engineering phrases added upon the difficulties of his thick accent. The stories almost never follow a chronological order and in some of them, Dumas jumps from school years to her marriage and back to her years in Iran. However, I found this jumping around in time to be intellectually very stimulating as I wondered in each story what missing piece would fall into place in the puzzle called Dumas’s life. Over time, many of her extended family arrived in the US and settled within a half-an-hour-drive radius of where they live. The list includes her father’s sister, several of her uncles and their grown-up children. After the Iranian Revolution, the family started feeling the weight of quick labeling. Dumas and her family were vilified and sometimes faced direct hostility not only from strangers but also from previously friendly people. She makes it clear that the experience of the whole Iranian-American community was similar. After completing high school, Dumas studied humanities in UC Berkeley where she met her husband, a Frenchman. This added another interesting dimension as the rejection by her husband’s family contrasted sharply with the crowded meetings and close encounters with her own extended family. The book tells nice stories about how American culture is viewed by someone who recently arrived to the country. Hers are told with a specific angle, which is her native culture. This brings me to the added bonus of this book. Through these stories, we also get a good dose of introduction to the main characteristics of the Iranian culture. I found these characteristics quite interesting and sometimes downright fascinating. Her stories are hilarious, but not forced or exaggerated. They are sprinkled with short witty observations about peculiarities of both of these cultures. I turned the pages with anticipation and enjoyed the fact that most stories ended with a clever reference to an earlier off-hand remark inside the story. I enjoyed very much the light hearted comparisons between American and Iranian cultures and how Dumas presented having both as a gift. On the other hand, I thought she could be more forthcoming in talking around the Iranian Revolution and the decisions her family had to make at that time. I strongly recommend this book for all audiences, especially young adults who would benefit from the Dumas’s viewpoints on discrimination, prejudice and stereotyping. Challenges faced by immigrants can be enormous. This book avoids dramatizing these challenges and presents in a narrative that is at times humorous and always flows easily. Review: love a good Memoir - This was an enjoyable look at immigrant assimilation into America. Most often books on this subject are difficult and problematic. The author, instead, chooses to highlight the humorous side of her experiences. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #21,868 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #4 in Emigrants & Immigrants Biographies #251 in Women's Biographies #480 in Memoirs (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 2,983 Reviews | ## Images ![Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71aO9xNDISL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Strongly recommended *by E***N on July 18, 2014* Funny in Farsi. Firoozeh Dumas. New York: Random House, 2003. 198 pp. Firoozeh Dumas arrived in America when his father was assigned to a two-year rotation as an engineer in the Iranian National Oil Company (INOC). After a brief return to her native country, she and her family settled in the US. Funny in Farsi is a humorous memoir recounting stories about her childhood in Iran and her adolescent and adult life in her adopted country. The book is composed of short stories, often involving her father and mother and members of her extended family and with funny twists that take place in awkward situations. Dumas was seven years old when she first arrived in America. Her father had obtained her Masters degree in the US as a Fulbright scholar and worked for INOC in the town of Abadan in Iran. Upon arrival in California, he joyfully volunteered to be his family’s interpreter as they prepared to make the most out of this two-year assignment. He was very fast taken over by Dumas in this effort as his English proved to be limited to engineering phrases added upon the difficulties of his thick accent. The stories almost never follow a chronological order and in some of them, Dumas jumps from school years to her marriage and back to her years in Iran. However, I found this jumping around in time to be intellectually very stimulating as I wondered in each story what missing piece would fall into place in the puzzle called Dumas’s life. Over time, many of her extended family arrived in the US and settled within a half-an-hour-drive radius of where they live. The list includes her father’s sister, several of her uncles and their grown-up children. After the Iranian Revolution, the family started feeling the weight of quick labeling. Dumas and her family were vilified and sometimes faced direct hostility not only from strangers but also from previously friendly people. She makes it clear that the experience of the whole Iranian-American community was similar. After completing high school, Dumas studied humanities in UC Berkeley where she met her husband, a Frenchman. This added another interesting dimension as the rejection by her husband’s family contrasted sharply with the crowded meetings and close encounters with her own extended family. The book tells nice stories about how American culture is viewed by someone who recently arrived to the country. Hers are told with a specific angle, which is her native culture. This brings me to the added bonus of this book. Through these stories, we also get a good dose of introduction to the main characteristics of the Iranian culture. I found these characteristics quite interesting and sometimes downright fascinating. Her stories are hilarious, but not forced or exaggerated. They are sprinkled with short witty observations about peculiarities of both of these cultures. I turned the pages with anticipation and enjoyed the fact that most stories ended with a clever reference to an earlier off-hand remark inside the story. I enjoyed very much the light hearted comparisons between American and Iranian cultures and how Dumas presented having both as a gift. On the other hand, I thought she could be more forthcoming in talking around the Iranian Revolution and the decisions her family had to make at that time. I strongly recommend this book for all audiences, especially young adults who would benefit from the Dumas’s viewpoints on discrimination, prejudice and stereotyping. Challenges faced by immigrants can be enormous. This book avoids dramatizing these challenges and presents in a narrative that is at times humorous and always flows easily. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ love a good Memoir *by S***R on December 9, 2025* This was an enjoyable look at immigrant assimilation into America. Most often books on this subject are difficult and problematic. The author, instead, chooses to highlight the humorous side of her experiences. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Hilarious and Insightful! *by R***L on February 15, 2026* I adored this book! Firoozeh Dumas’s recounting of her experiences growing up in California engaged me from start to finish, and I laughed out loud throughout my very enjoyable reading of her memoir! In fact, I devoured it as I simply didn’t want to put it down. She has such an intelligent and insightful commentary on human nature, and I love her droll sense of humor! I am recommending this book to all of my friends. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.us/products/4570048-funny-in-farsi-a-memoir-of-growing-up-iranian-in](https://www.desertcart.us/products/4570048-funny-in-farsi-a-memoir-of-growing-up-iranian-in) --- *Product available on Desertcart United States of America* *Store origin: US* *Last updated: 2026-07-21*