Laughing Without an Accent: Adventures of a Global Citizen

Had I read the description more closely, I probably would not have read Laughing Without an Accent. I thought this was Firoozeh Dumas's memoir about growing up as an Iranian American in California. Oops - that was the description of a previous best seller and the hook to for Laughing, which contains "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." It's no wonder my favorite chapters were the earliest ones which were heavy on memoir and life in pre-Revolution Iran, as opposed to musings on andouillette and bedroom decor.

That said, I did enjoy this book. It's a fast-paced, lighthearted, lightning fast read, and I found Dumas's descriptions of life in the Middle East especially interesting. Although it occasionally feels like she is trying a little too hard to be witty, for the most part I liked Dumas's style; a few passages are laugh-out-loud hilarious, which never hurts. The most memorable anecdote involved the ruination of an Iran Air carry-on bag and Dumas's musings that perhaps the loss would not have been so keenly felt had one known that in the future it would be less than advisable to carry such a bag through TSA checkpoints.

The final verdict: Had I not misread the description I would have missed out on this eminently readable little book, which I heartily recommend to those looking for reading material for a trip to the beach (or enroute).