Laughing Without an Accent

Firoozeh Dumas was born in Abadan, Iran, and, in the 1970's, moved to Southern California with her family. She later attended UC Berkeley where she met and married a Frenchman. Her two memoirs are [i]Funny in Farsi[/i] and [i]Laughing without an Accent.[/i] Firoozeh grew up listening to her father, a former Fulbright Scholar, recount the many colorful stories of his life in both Iran and America . In 2001, with no prior writing experience, Firoozeh decided to write her stories as a gift for her two children. [i]Funny in Farsi[/i] was on the [i]San Francisco Chronicle[/i] and [i]Los Angeles Times[/i] bestseller lists and was a finalist for the PEN/USA award in 2004 and a finalist in 2005 for an Audie Award for best audio book (she lost to Bob Dylan). She was also a finalist for the prestigious Thurber Prize for American Humor (she lost to Jon Stewart), and is the first Middle Eastern woman ever to be considered for this honor. Critics and readers of all ages have loved her stories. Jimmy Carter called Funny in Farsi "a humorous and introspective chronicle of a life filled with love of family, country and heritage. Orange County Reads One Book selected [i]Funny in Farsi[/i] as its book of the year for 2004. The title is now on the California Recommended Reading List for grades 6 - 12 and is used in many junior high, high schools, and universities. Dumas's commentaries have been broadcast on NPR and published in the [i]Los Angeles Times, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle Magazine[/i], and [i]Lifetime Magazine[/i].