Product Description

In the tradition of Nancy Mitford's "The Pursuit of Love" and Gerald Durrell's "My Family and Other Animals", comes a story of a young narrator in the midst of her eccentric family. But rather than landed gentry or bohemian travellers, it's a mad extended Iran clan who flee Tehran to 1980s Britain after the fall the Shah. Five year old Shappi and her beloved brother Peyvand arrive with their parents in London - all cold weather and strange food - without a word of English. If adapting to a new culture isn't troubling enough, it soon becomes clear that the Ayatollah's henchmen are in pursuit. With the help of MI5, Shappi's family go into hiding. So apart from checking under the family car for bombs every morning, Shappi's childhood is like any other kids - swings in the park, school plays, kiss-chase and terrorists.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3710 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Review
"written with an admirable lightness of touch and a novelist's eye for comic detail" --Stephanie Merritt, The Observer

"Charming and funny, I loved reading it." Jonathan Ross --Jonathan Ross

Review
"filled with laughter, wonder and compassion...It plunges us into the vibrant heart of a loud, loving Iranian family and vividly recreates the experience of being a child torn between vastly different cultures"

About the Author
Shappi Khorsandi was born in 1973 in Tehran and moved to London with her family in 1976 who were exiled after the revolution of 1979. She studied drama at university and has now been a stand-up for over ten years. She has performed all over the world including her annual sell-out run at the Edinburgh festival. She has appeared on countless radio and television programmes including Just a Minute, The News Quiz, The Now Show, Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo, Question Time and Newsnight Review. She lives in West London with her husband and son.

Customer Reviews

Absolutely brilliant - I couldn't put it down!
I'm often a little wary of books written by comedians, they don't always tend to be very good at it. This is a total exception though. Shappi perfectly captures the voice of her child self and you find yourself looking upon her world through a 6 year olds eyes. Her story is touching and funny, but also incredibly accessible. A must read for anyone.

I cried from cover to cover!!!!
Absolute genius. I bought this book for 3 reasons:

1) I'm a massive Shappi fan
2) I'm half Iranian
3) I needed something to help me procrastinate from the masses of coursework I have to complete

I started reading at 9pm whilst waiting for Big Brother to start and was so absorbed by the time 9.25pm came that I forgot to even switch on the TV. I was crying with laughter, crying tears of joy for all the sad bits, and cried just a little bit more as the hilarious stories of growing up with Iranian parents (in my case, just the one Iranian influence) reminded me of my own childhood.

Recommended to ANYONE, but beware of getting so hooked that you read the WHOLE thing in one sitting....it's now 5.23am and I just had to share my joy now that I've finished.

RAVING REVIEW FOR SHAPPI.....Fan-bloody-tastic!!!!xx

Charming, Enjoyable, Delightful
A Beginners Guide To Acting English is a memoir of Shappi Khorsandi's childhood, incorporating her move to the UK and dalliance with a fatwa.

The front cover suggests comedy. Perhaps some farce, with quotes lauding Britains Best Young Female Comic.

Within a few pages, I realised that I shouldn't have judged the book by its cover.

To clarify, Shappi is Iranian, she has an older brother, a mother, and her father is a famous satirical poet and cartoonist (in Iran at least). We join the family in Iran; everything is viewed through Shappi's pre-school eyes. Once I'd got over the fact that there was no way that Shappi could have remembered all this detail, and that much of her material must have been passed down from family, I really got into the sights, sounds and smells of Tehran.

The Khorsandis move to London at the time that the Ayatollah takes over rulership from the Shah. The childlike innocence with which Shaparak views everything is beautiful. There is no partisan view, no political standpoint. The view is always "If the Ayatollah met my Baba (dad), he'd find him really funny too."

In London they are dismissed as "Pakis", "terrorists" and suffer other verbal abuse. But Shappi and her brother are still just kids, and play just like kids. Even while the police tell them to disappear because of death threats.

My favourite quote comes as Hadi Khorsandi checks under his car for bombs. "Do any of you know what a bomb looks like?" "No." comes the reply. "Neither do I." But such gallows humour is always followed by a sigh of relief when the car doesn't blow up.

Charming, enjoyable, delightful. These are all how this book should be described. Shappi's affection for her friends, family and her homeland is touching and inspiring.