Book corner: “Tehrangeles” by Porochista Khakpour

I’m not really into social media. I’m into Twitter, or whatever they’re calling it this week. For years I’ve been following @PKhakpour on this platform – so I follow her opinions, passions, pains, and politics. During the pandemic, I noticed her obsession with baking and K-pop. In her latest novel, Tehrangeles, she has a character who is obsessed with K-pop and another who becomes an obsessed baker. Write what you know, right?

As a young student with dreams of becoming a writer, Porochista Khakpour read the classic Little Women. She didn’t understand it, she didn’t really like it. Now she has written a story set in our modern times that is at least partly inspired by Little Women. She worked on this novel for years and had already imagined it before she published her latest novel, The Last Illusion, a decade ago.

(I interviewed her for “The Last Illusion” when it came out in
Paperback).

“Tehrangeles” is the story of four Iranian sisters in Los Angeles. The Milanis hope to have their own reality TV show. Their father Al made his fortune selling fast food. Their mother Homa misses Iran and is often depressed. This story begins just before the coronavirus pandemic breaks out and leads to a big party at their mansion and what seems at the time to be the ultimate superspreader event.

Porochista Khakpour writes with piercing humor and dazzling wit. And if you look at the cover of this novel, you’ll see another reason why I loved this book: because it features the most important character: the family cat. You’ll have to read the book to understand what I mean. We don’t do spoilers!

Oh, and by the way, Porochista is currently obsessed with the WNBA. I know this because I still keep an eye on them via this social media device. They call me @BookNookVick.