Author | Firoozeh Dumas |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre | Memoir |
Publisher | Villard |
Publication date | 2003 |
Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
Pages | 208 pp |
ISBN | 0-8129-6837-9 |
Funny And Farsi Story
Ftp server mac os x. Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America is a 2003 memoir by Iranian American author Firoozeh Dumas. The book describes Dumas's move with her family in 1972, at age seven, from Iran to Whittier, California, and her life in the United States for the next several decades (with a brief return to Iran). The book describes adjusting to the different culture and dealing with her extended family, most of whom also moved to the U.S. in the 1970s. It was Dumas's first book.
Funny in Farsi was on the bestseller lists of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.[1][2]
The book was translated into Persian language and became a bestseller in Iran in 2005, selling over 100,000 copies. In 2012, the book's Iranian translator, Mohammed Soleimani Nia, was arrested by Iranian authorities, although this may have been unrelated to the book.[3]
Historical Context of Funny in Farsi The main historical event discussed in Funny in Farsi is the Iranian Revolution of 1979. After many years of civil unrest in Iran, Shia clerics organized a revolution against the country’s American-backed leader, the Shah. The novel, Funny in Farsi, is a nonfiction memoir about the story of an Iranian girl who grows up living in America with her ups and downs. About Funny in Farsi. 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! Humour (Commonwealth English) or humor (American English; see spelling differences) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement.The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as humours (Latin: humor, 'body fluid'), controlled human health and emotion. Graveyard Lyrics: It's crazy when / The thing you love the most is the detriment / Let that sink in / You can think again / When the hand you wanna hold is a weapon and / You're nothin' but skin.
In 2008, Dumas followed up Funny in Farsi with a second memoir, Laughing Without an Accent.
Awards and honors[edit]
Funny in Farsi was a finalist for a PEN Center USA award in 2004, a finalist for an Audie Award for best audiobook in 2005, and a finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor in 2005.[1]
Television adaptation[edit]
In 2009, a pilot episode was filmed for ABC for a sitcom based on the book, also called Funny in Farsi, and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. The pilot was not picked up for a series and was never aired.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ ab'About Firoozeh Dumas'.'>
- ^'New York Times bestseller'.'>
- ^Hackel, Joyce (January 24, 2012). 'Iranian Officials Arrest 'Funny in Farsi' Translator'.
- ^Baron, Jeff (May 20, 2010). ''Funny in Farsi' Stays on the Shelf, for Now'. Payvand Iran News.
External links[edit]
- Funny in Farsi at IMDb
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Funny_in_Farsi&oldid=983582388'
Firoozeh
Firoozeh is both author and narrator of the book and tells each anecdote about her family from the perspective of whatever age she was when each incident happened. She first moved to America at the age of seven and hugely enjoyed the experience, making friends and finding assimilating into her new country relatively simple once she had mastered the English language. A bookish girl, Firoozeh has no aptitude for sports or physical activity as her difficulty in learning to swim shows; she is also mystified by her own decision to attend an outdoorsy summer camp where the only activity she enjoyed was arts and crafts. Firoozeh, like the rest of her family, is obsessed with food, good, bad or indifferent, and enjoys eating her way through the selection of flavors at Baskin Robbins. She is aware that her figure is suffering but not sufficiently concerned by this to alter her diet.
As she gets older, Firoozeh notices the different perception of Iranians before and after the Iranian revolution; welcomed with open arms before and viewed with suspicion after. As she is fair skinned and speaks English with no accent, Firoozeh decides to change her name to Julie to circumvent having to explain that she is Iranian but not dangerous, and she remains Julie throughout college and into her adult years.
A secular Muslim, Firoozeh is not a person who discriminates by religion and consequently is puzzled by her French mother-in-law's negative reaction to her and the fact she is married to her son, especially since Firoozeh's husband is a secular Catholic. Raised in a very multi-cultural environment, Firoozeh is raising her sons in the same way but leans far more towards her adopted American heritage than her childhood Persian one.
Throughout the book Firoozeh shows herself to be a witty and observant teller of stories and also has a liking for the ridiculous, finding humor in even the things about her family that annoy her.
Kazem
Kazem is Firoozeh's father. As a young man he attended college in Texas and as a result was determined to being his family to America for a better life. He wholeheartedly embraces the culture and falls in love with the touristy and the flashy, travelling to Disneyland as often as possible with as large of a group of people as possible, and taking his family on vacation to Las Vegas where he is absolutely convinced he will win his fortune; when he does not he develops a complex series of identifiers for those people at the gaming table with him who are clearly bringing him bad luck. He also loves game shows, and is a contestant on Bowling For Dollars. A bowling prodigy in his own mind, he barely hits one pin whilst on the show and gives up bowling all together. Kazeem is often convinced that he is very good at something, such as teaching anyone and everyone to swim, and blaming Firoozeh's personal lack of buoyancy for her being the only person he never managed to teach.
A talented engineer, Kazeem is a hard worker who is convinced he will make his fortune one day; although never financially rich he considers himself wealthy because of his family and the life they enjoy together in California. He is a man who lives for family and he is close with his siblings who all live close by each other and who still care about the others'opinions just as much as they did as young children.
Nazireh
Nazireh is Firoozeh's mother. Like many women of her generation growing up in Iran, she received a brief and rudimentary education as in her era the only job a woman had was to find a husband. Before marrying she had aspired to be a midwife , supportive by her progressive father who was fully prepared for her to obtain her midwifery qualifications from a man known to the family but when he passed away suddenly so did Nazireh's aspirations.
Funny In Farsi Online Book
Her American experience never seemed to result on her getting to grips with the English language which she eventually learned but spoke with such a thick accent that people could not understand her much better than if she had still been speaking in Farsi. She learned English by watching game shows on television which also added to her knowledge of random pieces of useless information and the ability to price everyday items seen on 'Supermarket Sweep'.
Uncle Nematollah
Nematollah is a long-staying house guest and dearly loved uncle. With several marriages behind him his search for his next wife is hampered by his rampant indulgence in fast food,and his determination to lose weight by any means necessary (except for dieting) involves buying a selection of weight loss contraptions seen on the shopping channel. Nematollah is single-minded and cares nothing for the opinions of others, characteristics that enable him to wear a full-body onesie designed for weight loss in public. Although eccentric and perpetually eating Nematollah is a favorite uncle who is missed as soon as he leaves.
Segideh
Segideh is Kazeem's older sister and has an unbreakable bond with him, so much so that if she is angry with him he is distraught even as a grown man. She is a great cook and hostess and also has a green thumb, presiding over the most beautiful fragrant flower garden that still has the ability to take Firoozeh back in her mind to her childhood in Iran.
Francois Dumas
Funny And Farsi Pdf
Francois is Firoozeh's husband who was a fellow student at Berkeley and is originally from France. He was in love with Firoozeh very quickly after meeting her and made enormous efforts to impress her parents, even eating every single thing at a Persoan dinner that traditionally over-caters for every guest. A relatively secular Catholic he is not deterred by the fact she is not also a Catholic and ultimately decides to cut off toes with his mother when she is less accepting. Unlike Firoozeh, whose extended family is tightly-knit, most of Francoise's aunts, uncles and cousins are all at various stages of not talking to each other which is why he is so enthusiastic about joining Firoozeh's family.