Rating: 
Summary: Still Giggling Weeks Later
Review: This book was recommended to me by a Persian American friend after I completed Saffron Sky (Another great book regarding Iranian's finding a place in both Iran and America). I am married to an Iranian and I have visited Iran and have hosted his family in America for one of those three month visits! My husband could write the male versian of this humorous book! I sat there reading and laughing aloud and insisted that he stop whatever he was doing to hear another exerpt! I highly recommend this book to all, not just Iranians! It sheds light on a lot of serious matters with a humorous touch. It makes you aware of unfounded prejudices still being imposed on hard working, law abiding immigrants. I am eager to read more by this talented author! (Her witty depiction of the numorous visits to Disneyland made me take out the photos from my husbands first of 12 visits to Disney World with his small troop of relatives visiting from Iran in the late 70's...Too FUNNY!) I am wondering if she was really writing about her father, but my husband's Amu?! A MUST READ!
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Summary: Lives up to its name--laugh out loud funny!
Review: A book with "funny" in its title already gives readers expectations of being funny--and rightly so, because it lives up to all of its expectations, and I laughed out loud at every page! It's Dumas' witty, clever play on words when she retells her tales of childhood mishaps that makes this book so endearing and easy to identify with. We've all tried to fit in somehow, somewhere and ended up doing exactly the opposite! Dumas manages to take these stories and tell them with such humor, that sad stories turn into absurd ones--providing lots of giggles and laughter on the way. But the book also has tremendous substance, as Dumas writes about her family with love--especially her father, who is the epitome of kindness, and the ultimate lessons she learns growing up in an Iranian family in California. Those lessons of generosity and humanity serve her well through life's ups and downs, and she is able to look back on even the toughest of circumstances with side-splitting humor. I highly recommend this book for anyone that has ever felt "displaced"--and that would be every one of us. Brilliant!
Rating:
Summary: Funny In farsi
Review: I simply loved this book. I would recommennd it to many women who is married to Iranian men or children of these mix marriages especially. It helps us understand what we may have seen and heard many times yet not quite fully see the whole picture. She makes it funny and we are laughing with her and not at her. My husband who is Iranian, of course, truly sees the true meaning of it all. I find it entertaining and enlightening. "Thank you for being so forward and honest about your family, and sharing them with us. I feel I know them afterall."
Rating:
Summary: A funny and well-written memoir
Review: "Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America," by Firoozeh Dumas, begins with 7-year old Firoozeh and her family moving from Abadan, Iran to the strange new land of Whittier, California. From there the story moves back and forth in time, covering the narrator's childhood in Iran, her adulthood and marriage, and more.This is a wonderful book that made me laugh at loud at times. But it's also touching and inspirational. Dumas' narrative follows a colorful and likeable cast of characters, most notably her father Kazem: a hardworking engineer determined to live his own version of the American dream. Dumas' prose is clear, engaging, and quite witty. She writes with a contagious affection for her Iranian culture, the United States, and her family. Although the book is often very humorous, Dumas also effectively covers some serious topics--the language barrier, religious controversy, female body image, the impact of the Iranian hostage crisis, etc. And along the way we get a spicy taste of Iranian culture and tradition. Overall, this is a superb addition to the canon of literature that explores the rich and complex topic of ethnicity in the U.S; it's a book well suited for college courses, reading groups, and individual pleasure reading. As a companion text, I strongly recommend "A World Between: Poems, Short Stories, and Essays by Iranian Americans," edited by Persis M. Karim and Mohammad Mehdi Khorrami.
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Summary: I am so glad she wrote this book!
Review: Firoozeh Dumas lived in Iran when very young and, in 1972, moved to California with her family when her father, the hilarious and touching Kazem, is relocated for his job. Firoozeh's accounts of all that is puzzling and wonderful about the USA in general and California in particular, especially to someone out of the mainstream race and religion, rings just as true today as it did back then. Dumas' sense of humor about society, her family and herself is well-played by telling funny memories without turning anything into a joke. She describes the difference that immigrants from various countries face -- in light of the Iranian hostage crisis, she is regarded with fear, and her mother starts telling people, in her thick Persian accent, that they are French. When Firoozeh meets her husband Francois, who is from France, people greet him with delighted winderment about their last trip to France, as if Francois is personally responsible for their great time there. At times, I felt saddened at how well her father braves everything -- when the family is attacked by protestors in Washington, DC when then-President Jimmy Carter invites Iranian-Americans to meet the Shah of Iran, he finds a silver lining by pointing out they saw all the monuments while escaping the mob. Other accounts just make me laugh because they are all too true. When she is planning her Muslim wedding, it is important she never leave anyone off the guest list, even if the likelihood is that they on't attend because they are in another country. As she writes "We invited 140 people, 163 accepted, and 181 showed up." This is a great rich book that gives insight to a way of life not many people know about.
Rating: 
Summary: An enjoyable read.
Review: I came by this book by accident. I enjoyed this book so much it was hard to put down. It reminds me of the books written by Erma Bombeck. If you want light fun reading and if you don't mind laughing out loud then this is the book for you! I also enjoy learning about other cultures and the author has educated me and made me laugh all in the same chapter. I look forward to reading more things by this author.
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Summary: Very funny, charming story!!
Review: I am not even finished with the book yet but wanted to post my review -- I can't put it down!!
Read it, it's funny, touching, and something everyone can relate to - American, Iranian, whatever!!
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Summary: Interesting!
Review: "Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growign Up Iranian in America" deals with the life of Firoozeh Dumas whose family migrated from Iran to United States and how she had to deal with the obstacles that she encountered due to cultural differences. The memoir covers the time when Firoozeh's family spent two years in the U.S. after her father was transferred to Whittier, California. She talked about how her family discover things such as the American game shows, Las Vegas cheap buffet, camping among others which were extremely fascinating to them. The author mentioned several problems that she had to face such as the language barrier, friends not being able to pronounce her name and just assimilating into the American culture in general. Firoozeh went back and forth between her childhood and her adulthood (when her family finally settled permanently in the U.S.) lives. Firoozeh is certainly observant and there are times where I find myself laugh out loud. There are many sweet and humorous moments especially dealing with her thrifty and hardworking father. The book deals a lot with discovering the country, and understanding the culture through the eyes of an immigrant. In addition, the author also covers serious issues such as discrimination that they faced during the Iran hostage situation where her family was treated poorly just because they were Iranians. I feel that I learned a lot from this book, especially concerning the Iranian family values, and the problem that immigrants had to face. Overall, it is an interesting and insightful book, though I do wish the author would arrange her book chronologically or in a more meaningful way instead of going back and forth. The paperback edition also includes an additional chapter which covers her family's reaction to her book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not that funny; not that Farsi
Review: This memoir was a huge disappointment. I think the title is misleading because I was expecting something hilarious and something that would really dive into the Persian or Persian-American culture. Well, I was wrong. The author, Firoozeh Dumas brushes over her youth with disjointed little stories from here and there. Some of these tidbits are funny, others are too cliched. None have any real depth. I was expecting each chapter to be filled with humorous cultural stories, but many of the chapters have nothing to do with Firoozeh's Iranian background... such as the chapter where she and her French husband get roped into judging a beauty pageant. Like many of the other stories, it's an interesting enough story, but it's not funny and it's not Farsi. That's why I'm disappointed with this book. For any immigrants who are interested in this book... don't bother. There's nothing new in this "memoir" and I think if you sat around at home and swapped stories about growing up here, you'd be funnier than Dumas. One plus point -- if you still think you want to read it, at least it's short, so you won't be wasting much time. In all fairness, it's not such a bad memoir if you don't read it expecting it to be filled with hilarity and cultural insight. Start with lower expectations, and you'll probably rate it higher than I did.
Rating:
Summary: Funny In Farsi
Review: I immensely enjoyed "Funny In Farsi". Eventhough it's a memoir of Ms. Dumas' life as a Muslim Persian married to a Catholic Frenchman and lives in the USA, her memoir seems to mirror my life. As an Indonesian Muslim married to a wonderful American (eventhough my husband became Muslim before we got married) her experiences were very similar to mine. Although most of her experiences goes beyond religion or otherwise, I think this book is a wonderful perspective of any immigrant living in the US. Funny and witty, eloquently expressed, I would say that Ms. Dumas is an ambassador to cultural enlightenment. Anyone who want to learn about what it is being an immigrant in the US will find this book exhilaratingly refreshing! I will recommend this book for all my friends and family alike (Indonesian, American, and otherwise)! God Bless Ms. Dumas!
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