Laughter is a great reminder of that universal connection. And frankly, one of the best things about it was to remind me that people, underneath the cloaks of different names and accents, are actually the same. While her humor is often not "laugh out loud" it was "funny" in the sense of irony, observation of the misunderstandings that take place between people of different origins. And I see in her story an updated version of what it must have been like for my own grandparents to come here from a foreign land, and try to make their way in the cauldron of America. Funny in Farsi was on the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times bestseller lists and was a finalist for the PEN/USA award in 2004 and a finalist in 2005 for an Audie Award for best audio book. Firoozeh's voice and story make me feel like I know her, and share her experience. Random House published these stories in 2003. Now 40+ years later, I have met my second Persian, and based on my experience listening to this memoir, I am happy to say my first impression was correct. He was a sweet, gentle person, and while I know it was wrong of me to judge an entire nation by this one encounter, his charm certainly disposed me kindly towards his country. I met my first Persian in 1965, a fellow student at the University of Wisconsin, and when he told me he was Persian, I didn't know where it was, or what it meant. I am on a quest to read memoirs, and my search through Audible turned up this one, which I had not heard of before, but based on the blurb, thought it would be interesting.
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