Brenna B. (demiducky25) reviewed on 9/7/2009 + 161 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 6

I REALLY enjoyed reading this book! I think what made it so enjoyable is that you can more or less substitute your own relatives into some of the stories that she tells. Firoozeh Dumas discusses what it was like to grow up Iranian in America in the 1970s/ 1980s, but she spends a lot of time making you realize that the similarities between your family and hers far outweigh the differences. She keeps a nice balance between making the stories funny but still being respectful of her relatives and their quirks. For instance, you can tell that she really loves her father and respects him, despite his failed attempts at home repair and chronic thriftiness (or perhaps because of these things). The chapters are nice and short, keeping a quick pace throughout the book. Certain tales are funny (her father's reasoning as to why it's not a conflict for him to be Muslim and eat ham & the chapter called "The F-Word" about how her name always gets butchered were particularly notable), others are a bit more touching (such as when she discusses her intelligent aunt who should have gone to school but due to culture was married at an early age or how Firoozeh's mother became a pioneer for other women of her generation by embracing Firoozeh's choice of a husband- a Catholic Frenchman) but still humorous. I am excited to find out that she wrote a sequel and will have to look into getting that in the near future. All-in-all I HIGHLY recommend this book!

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