Karan Sotoodeh was born in the heart of Tehran. The son of a veterinarian and the grandson of renowned Iranian author and academic, Manouchehr Sotoodeh, who was a driving force in Karan’s life and inspired him to be the best man he could be.

In Bittersweet: The Experiences of an Iranian Living in Norway, Sotoodeh traces his life, from when he was a toddler in his grandfather’s arms, moving through a childhood filled with carefree afternoons spent playing football that was occasionally interrupted by warnings of incoming Iraqi rockets, then to college and military service in Iran, graduate school in Scotland, marriage and a divorce in Iran, and finally, immigration and ten years spent in Norway.

Sotoodeh strays from his story to provide an overview of the rich, vivid details and historical information about Iran and other places he has travelled and lived, portions of Persian literature that are near and dear to his heart, and tie-ins to contemporary films.

This is the story of a man who decided what he wanted to do with his life when he was only five years old, and then systematically set out to accomplish every one of his goals. Along the way, he loved, and he lost, he gave freely and had things forcibly taken from him, and he fought with his inner demons.

In doing so, he found the sweetest things of all: Love, inner strength, and a determination to always move forward in life.