American Playground

It's 1971, and 7-year-old Mishel Manoucherian's family has packed up their life in Tehran and moved to Los Angeles, launching him headfirst into a disorienting new world of social and schoolyard expectations. At once a witty and warm exploration of the immigrant journey and coming of age tale, American Playground illuminates the Iranian American experience through a child's unique perspective.

Armed with a handful of English words, a fiery mother who uses her biting wit to open doors and inspire fear while shunning all things Amrikayi, and an adventurous dad who clumsily chases the Amrikayi Dream, Mishel tries to crack the code of schoolyard politics that feels equal parts Brady Bunch and Lord of the Flies.

His brown skin gets him thrown in with the school's outcasts, but Mishel wants to run with the Pros - longhaired kids who rule the blacktop in faded Levi's and Pro Keds, radiating the casual yet rugged essence of 70's California Cool. Desperate for a mentor to unravel this dizzying American life, Mishel recruits Bugs Bunny, the only Amrikayi he trusts. Mishel will do whatever it takes to become Amrikayi. He'll have to do it on the only true Amrikayi turf - the playground.

Full of heart, humor and insight, American Playground explores the tensions between assimilation and identity, a child's desperation to pass as one of many, and the age-old conflict between Bugs Bunny and everyone who's out to "kill the wabbit." Bringing a fresh perspective to classic genres, Shokrian's writing recalls the honesty and ferocity of classic Los Angeles writers Fante and Bukowski, with a modern immigrant's twist.

Author: Michael Isaac Shokrian
Publisher: Thieving Magpie
Published: 05/02/2025
Pages: 270
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.61d
ISBN: 9798992541700

About the Author
Shokrian, Michael Isaac: - "Michael Isaac Shokrian is an Iranian-Jewish writer born in Hamburg, Germany and raised in Los Angeles by way of Tehran. With little knowledge of the English language or American culture, Michael became a self-taught American via terrestrial radio and TV. He began writing at UCLA and as he honed his poetic flair in his adopted language, a theme emerged: the voice, perspective and humor of the Outsider and the struggle of marginalized characters to find authenticity and identity. Michael's work introduces readers to the multi-layered world of Iranians in America and their effort to find their place in America through hard compromises, small triumphs and poignant defeats.Always a dedicated and self-reliant writer, Michael kept his literary aspirations alive by working in newsrooms, restaurants and warehouses. He has been a private investigator, rug merchant, delivery driver, P.R. executive, news editor, line cook, waiter and more. In his 30s, he entered law school and eventually set up a solo practice in the Los Angeles suburb of Studio City. Despite commitments as a husband, father, lawyer and aspiring writer, Michael launched a non-profit online literary quarterly, the Thieving Magpie, in 2017 - his effort to create a literary community and platform for established, emerging and underrepresented voices.Michael's previous work has been in short fiction, poetry and essays. His short story, "Asphalt Like Moderns," won the Best Fiction prize in the 20th Anniversary Issue of American Literary Review.American Playground is Michael's first novel."