The Persian translation of the book ‘I’m Not a Terrorist, but I’ve Played One on TV,’ written in English two years ago by the famous Iranian-American comedian, actor Maz (Maziar) Jobrani, has been published in Iran.
Translated by Marzieh Zaman, the book has been published by Kooleh Poshti Publications, Mehr News Agency reported.
The book is a heartfelt, hilarious and insightful memoir about growing up as an immigrant in America. The first-time author Maz shares his struggle to build an acting career in post-9/11 Hollywood and finally, through patience, determination, and only the occasional unequivocal compromising of his principles, he finds a path to stardom.
“Jobrani has plenty to say about matters of race, assimilation, embarrassing family members and life in America for brown-skinned people before and after 9/11,” The New York Times wrote on the book.
Maz, 44, was born in Tehran, but grew up in the US. He performs stand-up comedy around the world, including in Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has played in the films ‘Friday After Next’, ‘13 Going on 30’ and ‘The Interpreter’.
He says, “Writing a book isn’t easy. I’m a comedian, so I’m used to writing a few lines of comedy each day, but when I was faced with writing 200 pages I was intimidated. However, once I began writing, it started to flow. After all, this is a story about my life. Who’s more qualified to write about me than me? I’m an expert on me. And what a life it’s been! A classic immigrant story. A kid from the streets of Tehran moving to the streets of Los Angeles (which nowadays is packed with so many Iranians that it’s basically like living back on the streets of Tehran”.
As a comedian, Maz has traveled to many countries some of which he mentions in the book. There are narratives of his experiences in Lebanon as well as his visit to one of the Wonders of the World, Petra in Jordan.
One of the things he tries to do in his stand-up comedies is to break the stereotypes and present Middle Easterners and Muslims in a positive light.
