Laughing Without an Accent: Adventures of an Iranian American, at Home and Abroad

Listening to Laughing Without an Accent; by far was one of my most pleasurable experiences. I was constantly mesmerized by author's undaunting wit; her colorful descriptions of the events; and her genius selections of the themes. I think Firoozeh stories bring humor and joy to not only Iranian-Americans but also all the immigrants to this wonderful land. I can not wait to listen to her other book Funny in Farsi

I Love this author and will listen to anything she writes (then reads) She has a great sense of humour, and laughs readily at herself, even sharing cringe worthy details of her life. Love how she gets into family and culture and ties it all together in her stories letting us in on her past the good and the bad. The only thing I wasn't thrilled with was her stories aren't in any order that I could see, they seemed to jump around the time line a lot. So there was some overlapping and backtracking. However, that aside, I would recommend this book highly and again have to say would love to meet her and spend some time with her and her famiy!

Entertaining, enlightening, enjoyble and genuinely funny as Firoozeh Dumas one again leads us through trails of an Iranian and French family's life in America. Pieces of this adorable read could be the account of any American with children...tough days! The red spread story is very typical of a mother's love and desire to please, while the food stories regal us with visions of lamb's head...all entertaining and fun! Looking forward to her sequel. Peggy Davis

I just finished listening to Funny in Farsi and Laughing Without an Accent and I so enjoyed the books, especially the narration, that I just wanted to let people know that these are great books to listen to. Firoozeh's narration adds another layer to the stories and is especially good when she imitates her mother. So many of the stories crossed all cultural lines and I recognised much of the quirkyness described in the books in my own Australian family. I look forward to her next book.

Ms. Dumas is a fabulous storyteller. I read in hard copy both, Funny In Farsi & LWAA. I laughed and related all the way through, even though I am not Persian. The audio book was entertaining and well done. I enjoyed listening to the real person behind the stories. It's like having the author in your house telling you face to face over chai. Highly recommend.

I have not read Funny in Farsi. I enjoyed this book but am not tempted to buy her earlier book. This book is light, amusing, and has some truly funny moments. I think it would have been better served by a narrator with a better sense of comic timing.

I found this book to be funny and sweet, but it took a couple of stories before I really got into it. Just when I was ready to give up I became hooked. The author narrates, and I think I have come to the conclusion that authors should not narrate their books. It is not that she does a bad job, so much as it is an adequate job. Nothing wrong but at the same time nothing that makes the entire book come alive for me like some of the professional readers do. The stories made me laugh and one even made me cry, so all in all not a bad choice.

I haven't seen the printed version, but certainly think the recorded version would be better since it was narrated by the author. A tiny touch of accent, correct pronunciation of places, names and ideas adds to the experience of the story.

I can compare this to short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri because both authors have a sense to two cultures and express the ideas, confusions, conflicts, humor and life experience in a similar respectful (of both cultures) way.

I love her voice and cadence, she is easy to listen to. I think her soft tones and real emotions make the deep moments in the book more memorable. I enjoyed her ability to use a lighter voice and express joy and happiness appropriately.

Living between and within two cultures, with a smile.

The most important thing to know about this book is that it is a book of vignettes - not a novel with a story line that follows through from beginning to end. That being said, the stories were witty and sometimes quite funny. I had not read the first book but I don't know if that is why I felt like I was constantly missing something (a bit like leaving the theater to buy popcorn and coming back not knowing what happened).
The author reads the book. She is a novice but, at the same time, the language skills required to read a book of this nature are rare. I don't think it would have been the same had someone else attempted it.

What I enjoyed most was the insight in to life in Iran (pre-revolution) and the little bit of insight in to life for Iranians living in America during the hostage crisis.

I wish I had read the first one prior to reading this one.

Nope. Current public sentiment in the US is too ignorant to accept something like that.

Took me a while to get into it, but Firoozeh is really funny. Since it's not a thriller or mystery, but rather short stories, I'm able to come back to it when I have some free time and I want to be entertained. This book almost feels like Firoozeh is your friend, though she's a bit older than me. She talks about this and that and has no trouble making ANYTHING into a funny, enjoyable story. I'm not quite done with it yet, but I find myself enjoying every minute. I wish she and I could be friends! I even checked out her and her family on google images and I can see that others have the same. Firoozeh is candid, very open and she really shares of herself in her storytelling.