Book Review
Tehrangeles
By Porochista Khakpour
Pantheon: 320 pages, $28
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Located near UCLA and Holmby Hills, Westwood’s Tehrangeles (once Little Persia) neighborhood may surprise visitors — but residents have long known that it’s the largest Iranian diaspora center in the world.
And what a hub it is! It is now known for conspicuous consumption, as in the TV show “Shahs of Sunset.” Iranians who first bought houses and opened businesses on Westwood Boulevard in the 1960s, then in the late 1970s by people who fled Iran after the deposition of the shah, may have been shocked or shocked or both by the excesses of the 21st century which is detailed in Porochista Khakpour’s amazing and slick new novel, “Tehrangeles,” the story of one family’s ascent from extreme wealth to extreme fame as each of the six members grapples with their deepest needs.
The Milanis are Ali, or Al, the inventor of the wildly popular food called Pizzabomme, who loves to be mistaken for Italian; his wife, Homa, is severely depressed; and four daughters. The eldest, Violet, is a successful model whose sweet tooth threatens her livelihood. Next up is Roxanna-Vanna, even more successful as a social media influencer, who looks poised to become a young Lisa Vanderpump. Haylee spends all her time and energy, a lot, on training and making healthier meals. Finally, Mina, almost a teenager, comes to terms with inchoate illness and unclear gender boundaries. Among them, the Milanese millionaires form a blind disco ball of late capitalist efforts, defects, fears and even pleasant qualities.
If at first, the strong mixture reminds readers of novels of manners such as Jane Austen or Jennifer Egan, continue: The author has something specific, which not only describes the time and place and the characters, but also shines. in female relationships. Haylee even mentions it specifically at one point: “I’m Amy, you’re Meg, Roxi Jo, and Mina, of course, Beth.” Of course, “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott, the 1868 story of four sisters and “Marmee” during the Civil War. While Al Milani is not against the Union, he does not know what makes his children possible.
Like Alcott March’s sister, Milani’s sister are all teenagers. Violet 19, Roxanna-Vanna 17, Haylee 15, and Mina 13; as any woman who has lived through this age knows (let alone a woman who has raised women this age), every age is different. Thus, also like her sister March, Milani’s offspring are both very close at some points and almost far from others – mainly because the huge house allows everyone to hide. Homa took advantage of this by changing her daily routine from slumping in the guest bedroom after another.
However, if “Tehrangeles” is a version of “Little Women,” then “Little Women” is a 1990s mixtape, in tune with the author’s personal vibe. Each chapter offers the perspective of one character, although all the other Milanis participate, so that by the time you reach the set piece of the book – a big, over-the-top party Roxanna-Vanna orchestrates – you know the origin of the family. and motivation, which is not small.
This whole narrative is happening because a group of producers believe that the family is ripe to become the new Kardashians on a reality show that will give Al and Roxanna all the attention they want. “Reality TV is all about staying really real,” the main producer told Roxanna-Vanna, and she is both thrilled to promise the limelight and worried that people will discover her secret (no spoilers here).
Like Pizzabomme – “the essence of a pizzeria mashed up into some high-concept chaos” – the identity of this character, and colleagues and classmates and employers and employees, are combo platters of conflicting ingredients. Just as production on the show looks set to begin, a global pandemic appears and shakes everyone up, especially Haylee, who is a neo-right conspiracy theorist. The family’s elderly (Persian, natch) cat, Pari, goes missing, greatly upsetting Violet and threatening the sisterly bond, as both are desperate to find Pari and both seem indifferent, like Mr. Laurence’s piano in Alcott’s novel.
If the comparison is too much, then it’s better to let go of the corset and admit that even if “Tehrangeles” takes inspiration from “Little Women,” it’s not a pale imitation. The novel itself is a Rube Goldberg machine up and down and in and out and arguments and “hugging out” between four thoroughly modern mademoiselles. In the midst of the COVID panic, the family had a videoconference with a reality-TV producer, who told Roxanna-Vanna that she was a big hit, “really raw and honestand made a big profit.”
He says he was “born for this” and then asks if he’s “messed up”.
Answer: “Well, you have, but the perfect one – we want it. For you. It’s beautiful. It’s protected!”
He then had the idea to have each sister write an essay for the reality confessionals trope, which adds another genre to the mixtape, where each sister “speaks” with her own voice for a few pages and, in the middle. showing what they consider important (for Roxanna-Vanna, the Hervé Leger bandage dress; for Haylee, the invention of 5G access), revealing their secret motivations. For example, Roxanna-Vanna said that clothing is “everything and everyone knows”.
When the party is over, nothing has changed, or maybe everything, and Roxanna-Vanna has the last word in the final chapter, the stream of consciousness at the edge unreadable, but worth reading because it shines. sweet, messy, modern disco ball from the book with joyful glitter bombs.
Bethanne Patrick is a book critic, podcast host and memoirist “Life B: Overcoming Double Depression.”
