Our April/May 2014 Cook the Books Selection: Funny in Farsi

Hello Everyone! I am happy to make the formal announcement of our next Cook the Books pick: Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America, by Firoozeh Dumas. I have great affection for this book of autobiographical essays, since it made me repeatedly laugh out loud and bug my husband with constant interruptions so that I could read portions to him.

Dumas is a wonderful storyteller and her upbringing certainly was interesting. Born in Iran, she moved to Whittier, California with her family in 1972 when she was seven years old. Her father, Kazem, is a petroleum engineer and a constant source of amusement throughout the book. He's a bit of a dreamer, an enthusiast for American game shows, a constant dieter and someone who thoroughly baffled Albert Einstein when he had the chance to meet with him.

There is enough mention of Persian foods and Firoozeh's hilarious anecdotes about how her family encounters and experiences American ones to get us going in the kitchen, so I hope you will also enjoy this very  funny, but also touching, book as much as I have.

Submissions are due June 1, 2014. As always, anyone can join us in this round of Cook the Books buy reading and blogging about the book, including a dish that you have made which has been inspired by its contents. You can let me know that your post is up by posting a comment below or by sending me an email at: oldsaratogabooks AT gmail dot com.

-Rachel

P.S. Bon Appetit in Farsi : (befarma'id) بفرماييد (nooshe jan) نوش جان