Thumbs up for Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas. Autobiography.
I think the title and subtitle sum it up pretty well. Funny in Farsi is indeed, a funny little book, and it has the outstanding point (unlike many humorous memoirs) of being rather sweet as well. Dumas teases her family a bit but she is never mean to them, and frankly that’s rather refreshing.
There was, however, one attraction that stood apart, one who sweatshirts we wore with pride, one that generated near religious devotion: Disneyland. My father believed that Walt Disney was a genius, a man whose vision allowed everyone, regardless of age, to relive the wonderment of childhood. Ask my father what he considers to be man’s greatest creation in the twentieth century and he won’t say computers, the Concorde, or knee replacement surgery. For him, “Pirates of the Caribbean” represents the pinnacle of man’s creative achievement. No matter how many times my father goes on that ride, he remains as impressed as a Disneyland virgin. “Did you see that pirate leg hanging over the bridge? Could somebody remind me that it wasn’t real? And the battle between the ships, geez, was I the only one ready to duck and cover? What kind of man would think of creating something like this? A genius, that’s who.” I doubt that even Walt Disney’s mother felt as much pride in her son as my father did.
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