Book review: Everything Sad is Untrue

by Jeni Harmon

The title of this autobiographical novel by Daniel Nayeri comes from JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, and it’s perfect. This book, like Tolkien’s books, is intended (or marketed anyway) as Young Adult (YA) Fiction and yet is loved and enjoyed by adults. Both authors immerse their readers in myth, legend, history, hurt, pain, joy, causing sparks to fly and soar in one’s imagination, with characters and descriptions that fascinate. But unlike Tolkien’s tale, Daniel Nayeri’s is true: he lived it and there are sad things and things to remember.

Our narrator is 12 year old Daniel, although really his name is Khousrou, but that was in Iran, and he now lives in Oklahoma with his mom and sister. They are refugees, had to leave their home quickly, and will never be able to go back.  Daniel is an exuberant storyteller, and every memory is recounted with details alive with tastes, smells, sights and sounds that carry his listeners away, to the extent that virtually none of his classmates or teachers (or other “grownies”) believe what he says.  They assume he just wants attention, or to make himself more than he now is: poor and marginalized. But, his background is one of wonder and he holds on tight to the pictures in his mind – some memories, some based on things his mother and father told him, especially because he realizes that never again can he get more. His memories are finite, and fading.

And there’s life in Oklahoma: the trials of middle school, living poor, doing church, getting a stepfather. All these require survival strategies and Daniel has them.  It amazed me how he remains buoyant as a narrator with so many hard things. I never felt sorry for him, but just able to hear and understand his life at this time, and it’s hard. His father is a character by any measure, and his mom is amazing, again, by any measure. There are heroes here, and villains too. And poop stories (thought provoking ones, in fact!).

This book does the three things I love best in a book: It builds empathy (for kids, refugees, Iranians, single moms, for starters!), it transports me to another life different from mine, and it has some sense of God or eternity that speaks to how I live in this world.  This last point is really why I recommend this book fervently, for in it Daniel’s family confronts belief and what it costs. This book is a great read on the page, but especially on audio read by the author. It may be helpful to give a content warning that domestic violence features in the story, so be prepared if reading with kids. Family life, and church life too, can be a messy mess. 

“And so, dear reader, I will tell you a story, passing strange” where “all Persians are liars and lying is a sin. That’s what the kids in Mrs. Miller’s class think…My dad says Persians aren’t liars. They’re poets, which is worse.  Poets don’t even know when they’re lying. They’re just trying to remember their dreams.”

I don’t think it would be a spoiler to search online for video clips of Daniel Nayeri, the author.  He has spoken in several christian venues and churches, but watching him making cream puffs with his mom is lovely, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXNuhG7_hLo

His mom is his hero, and I hope you will enjoy learning their story in this book. Stories are powerful, just as we see Jesus teach his disciples with them. I think we will be telling stories like this one and millions more in the glory of eternity. For now, as a nation of Thankful Immigrants, celebrating, recognizing and remembering our freedom to worship in this land– let’s not wait, but  tell the good news that the sad things are not the last things. Love is.

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Jeni Harmon has been married to Steve for thirty-three years. They are parents to Grace, who is married to Peter, sons Samuel and John, and the youngest, Amelia, who is a high school student and a person with Down syndrome. At Calvary, she loves the Renovare women’s ministry, and Special Impact, a ministry to moms of special-needs children.