
When was the book Funny in Farsi published?
In 2001, she submitted a collection of stories about her early life, and much to her surprise, Random House published the stories under the title Funny in Farsi in 2003. Since 2003, Dumas has written another memoir of her childhood, Laughing Without an Accent (2008), and a middle school-level work of fiction, It’ Ain’t so Awful, Falafel (2016).
What chapter in Farsi has the “F Word”?
"Funny in Farsi Chapter 11: The “F Word”." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 24 Jul 2017. Web. 3 Nov 2021. Arn, Jackson. "Funny in Farsi Chapter 11: The “F Word”."
What are the best resources to read funny in Farsi?
Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Firoozeh Dumas's Funny in Farsi. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides. A concise biography of Firoozeh Dumas plus historical and literary context for Funny in Farsi. A quick-reference summary: Funny in Farsi on a single page.
What is the main historical event in Funny in Farsi?
-Graham S. 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.

How many pages are in Funny in Farsi?
208 ppThe book was translated into Persian language and became a bestseller in Iran in 2005, selling over 100,000 copies....Funny in Farsi.First editionAuthorFiroozeh DumasPublication date2003Media typePrint (Hardcover)Pages208 pp5 more rows
What type of book is Funny in Farsi?
MemoirBiographyAutobiographyFunny in Farsi/Genres
What happens in Funny in Farsi?
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 ...
What are the themes in Funny in Farsi?
Women and Feminism. One of the most important aspects of Funny in Farsi's portrait of Iranian culture is its treatment of women and femininity. Throughout the memoir, furthermore, Firoozeh evokes feminist themes more broadly.
Who wrote Funny in Farsi?
Firoozeh DumasFunny in Farsi / AuthorFiroozeh Dumas is an Iranian-American writer who writes in English. She is the author of the memoirs Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America and Laughing without an Accent: Adventures of a Global Citizen, and the semi-autobiographical novel It Ain't so Awful, Falafel. Wikipedia
What awards did Funny in Farsi win?
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. Winner of the Spirit of America Award given by the National Council of Social Studies.
Who are the characters in Funny in Farsi?
Funny in Farsi CharactersFiroozeh Dumas. The protagonist and narrator of Funny in Farsi, Firoozeh is born in Iran, but spends most of her childhood living in California. ... Kazem. Kazem is Firoozeh's beloved father. ... Nazireh. ... François Dumas.
What is Uncle nematollah most effective weight loss technique?
To lose weight, Nematollah buys diet pills and a scale. Frustrated when he doesn't get results, he buys a girdle and a shiny exercise outfit designed to help him sweat away weight.
How did firoozeh feel about her mother?
Almost as soon as she's in America, Firoozeh begins to feel the Iranian and American sides of her identity tugging her in different directions: she loves her mother but she also wants to fit in with her peers, with the result that she begins to grow annoyed with her mother for embarrassing her.
What did Firoozeh learn to make while at camp?
As in many other parts of the book, Firoozeh describes an episode from her life that's tinged with sadness—going to an American summer camp and making no friends—and makes it funny. Laugher allows Firoozeh to make light of her childish embarrassment, and embrace her early memories of America instead of regretting them.
Did Firoozeh's parents speak English very well when they moved to America?
2) Firoozeh's parents don't speak English fluently, and their efforts to do so often lead to embarrassment, especially for their children.
When did Funny in Farsi become a bestseller?
The book was translated into Persian language and became a bestseller in Iran in 2005, selling over 100,000 copies.
What is Funny in Farsi?
Funny in Farsi. 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).
When was Funny in Farsi filmed?
Television adaptation. 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.
What award did Funny in Farsi win?
Awards and honors. 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.
Why is Firoozeh odd?
Firoozeh does well in school, but her classmates sometimes regard her as odd because she’s from a faraway country. Students asks her if there are camels in her country, and even parents assume that she speaks the same language as everyone else who lives in the Middle East.
Where does Firoozeh go to school?
Firoozeh attends the University of California at Berkeley, and graduates with honors. There she also meets a French Catholic student named François Dumas, who later becomes her husband.
Who is Firoozeh's mother?
Her mother, Nazireh, only has a sixth-grade education, and she had children with Kazem when she was only seventeen years old. Firoozeh admires other women in her family, such as her Aunt Parvine, partly because she became a successful doctor in Switzerland instead of doing what Iranian society expected her to do.
What does Firoozeh do after the hostage crisis ends?
Shortly after the hostage crisis ends, he gets a new job that pays much less money. Firoozeh works hard as a teenager to pay her way through college. She excels at writing essays for scholarship money, and also wins a two-month stay in Paris to study French.
What is the name of the narrator of Funny in Farsi?
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Funny in Farsi, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Firoozeh, the narrator of the memoir, recalls moving from Abadan, Iran, to Whittier, California at the age of seven with her parents and her fourteen-year-old brother, Farshid.
What does Firoozeh feel embarrassed about?
On her first day of school, Firoozeh feels embarrassed as her mother walks her to her classroom —other kids stare at them. Firoozeh’s mother sits with Firoozeh in class, and Mrs. Sandberg writes Firoozeh’s name on the board, and then the word, “Iran.”.
Why is Firoozeh uncomfortable with her peers?
Firoozeh’s earliest reactions with her peers in school are uncomfortable, because they seem to think of her as an alien, “Other” person, rather than a true peer. Unlock. Unlock with LitCharts A+. Active Themes. On the walk home from school, Firoozeh and Nazireh get lost—the street signs are useless to them.
What does Firoozeh think of America?
Firoozeh, on the other hand, thinks of America in strictly material terms, as a place of abundance. In a way, they’re both right: Funny in Farsi portrays America as a haven of freedom, but also a land of products and excess. Firoozeh is a second grader at the time, and she starts attend the local elementary school in Whittier.
Who is Firoozeh's mother?
Firoozeh ’s mother, Nazireh, like most Iranian woman of the era, hasn’t had much education—she was raised to believe that her purpose in life was to marry and take care of her family. Her father was a fairly progressive man who encouraged her to have a career and become a midwife.
Where did Firoozeh move to?
Firoozeh, the narrator of the memoir, recalls moving from Abadan, Iran, to Whittier, California at the age of seven with her parents and her fourteen-year-old brother, Farshid. At the time, her eldest brother, Farid, is going to high school in Philadelphia and living with Firoozeh’s uncle and aunt.
What is the name of the company Kazem works for in Funny in Farsi?
Kazem begins working for the NIOC (National Iranian Oil Company) at the age of seventeen.
What does Firoozeh say about America?
By ending the chapter in this way, Firoozeh creates a sad but cautiously optimistic mood, suggesting that, while America has its share of discrimination and prejudice, the nation itself is tolerant and idealistic, and gives immigrants opportunities for advancement.
What chapter is Funny in Farsi?
Funny in Farsi: Chapter 11. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Funny in Farsi, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Firoozeh has a cousin named Farbod. Although his name means “Greatness” in Persian, his American peers call him “Farthead.”.
What is Farbod's cousin's name?
Analysis. Firoozeh has a cousin named Farbod. Although his name means “Greatness” in Persian, his American peers call him “Farthead.”. Like Farbod, Firoozeh never realized that her name would be such an obstacle to assimilating in America. Firoozeh’s name literally means “turquoise,” but growing up, Firoozeh becomes accustomed to Americans being ...
Is Firoozeh's last name difficult to pronounce?
Firoozeh’s last name is difficult for Americans to pronounce, too—although, at her father’s request, she won’t use it in this book. Later on, however, when Firoozeh was studying at Berkeley, her name attracted people “like flies to baklava.”. Firoozeh found these people “refreshingly nonjudgmental.”.
