Laughing Without an Accent

Adventures of an Iranian American, at Home and Abroad

By: Firoozeh Dumas

Narrated by: Firoozeh Dumas

Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

In the best-selling memoir Funny in Farsi, Firoozeh Dumas recounted her adventures growing up Iranian American in Southern California. Now she again mines her rich Persian heritage in Laughing Without an Accent, sharing stories both tender and humorous on being a citizen of the world, on her well-meaning family, and on amusing cultural conundrums, all told with insights into the universality of the human condition. (Hint: It may have to do with brushing and flossing daily.)

With dry wit and a bold spirit, Dumas puts her own unique mark on the themes of family, community, and tradition. She braves the uncommon palate of her French-born husband and learns the nuances of having her book translated for Persian audiences. (The censors edit out all references to ham.) And along the way, she reconciles her beloved Iranian customs with her Western ideals.

Explaining crossover cultural food fare, Dumas says, "The weirdest American culinary marriage is yams with melted marshmallows. I don't know who thought of this Thanksgiving tradition, but I'm guessing a hyperactive, toothless three-year-old." On Iranian wedding anniversaries: "It just initially seemed odd to celebrate the day that 'our families decided we should marry even though I had never met you, and frankly, it's not working out so well.'" On trying to fit in with her American peers: "At the time, my father drove a Buick LeSabre, a fancy French word meaning 'OPEC thanks you.'"

Dumas also documents her first year as a new mother, the familial chaos that ensues after she removes the television set from the house, the experience of taking 51 family members on a birthday cruise to Alaska, and a road trip to Iowa with an American once held hostage in Iran.

Droll, moving, and relevant, Laughing Without an Accent shows how our differences can unite us - and provides indelible proof that Firoozeh Dumas is a humorist of the highest order.

©2008 Firoozeh Dumas (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"There's such warmth to Dumas' writing that it invites the reader to pull up a seat at her table and smile right along with her at the quirks of her family and Iranians and Americans in general." ( Booklist)
"These stories, like everything Firoozeh Dumas writes, are charming, highly amusing vignettes of family life. Dumas is one of those rare people - a naturally gifted storyteller." (Alexander McCall Smith)

Highly entertaining

I found this book to be highly entertaining despite not ever being to America and listening to it before Dumas's first book Funny in Farsi. It's written and read with love and care and the humour is kind and hilarious at the same time. I enjoyed it very much.

Another great story!

Dumas, once again, created a book that we can all relate to. Through stories from throughout her life we get a glimpse of another culture while Being reminded that we are more the same then we are different.

Not as good as Funny in Farsi...

...but if you liked that book, this one is worth a read.

This one, like the last, is a series of interconnected personal essays and not what I'd call a memoir.

We learn more about the author and her family (it's not so focused on her father), but I found these essays less resolved and a little less interesting. Though the essay where she and her husband go to the Bahamas was really good.

Sigh

Any additional comments?

I wanted to like this book. It just seemed so superficial and weak that I just couldn't listen past the first few chapters. A total disappointment.

Boring

This is suppose to be funny, but both the text and the author's reading style are flat. The stories told were not particular in any real way. I made it through about 1 hour, and will not listen to the rest.

bo-ring

I got through 5 chapters before finally giving up on this one. Nothing was very amusing or indeed very interesting. The style is mundane, the vocabulary elementary, the similes unimaginative, the anecdotes unremarkable. Only the irritating narration kept me from falling asleep.