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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
This book was incredibly disappointing. I stumbled across this book from HGTV handmade, I found Rajiv charming and fascinating. I was desperate to know everything I could about him (as I do with all my little obsessions) and so I decided to read his book. I thought the premise was heartfelt. Everything was fine until page 39 when he so flippantly (a word I saw another person use for this and I think it is quite fitting) uses the n word. I honestly can't understand why he chose to do this. The paragraph was not even necessary. I don't believe Rajiv had an editor. Besides him using the n word the writing is often clunky, there are many unnecessary section, and Rajiv often comes across as judgemental, snobbish, and unselfaware. The book isn't all bad and Rajiv's descriptions of Podicherry are electric and full of life. The story at it's centre could be powerful but in the end this book was disappointing. I think the reason I find it so disappointing is that it could have been so good. I guess my advice to Rajiv is hire and editor please.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Racial slurs
Moderate: Fatphobia, Xenophobia
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
I enjoyed every minute spent reading this book . Im glad I stumbled on his YouTube video about letter writing which led me to his memoir.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Read the whole review here http://bit.ly/2qddCNF
The flap copy of Rajiv Surendra’s book The Elephants in My Backyard lists a number of flowery adjectives to describe the story I held in my hands, but the phrase that struck me was “colossal defeats.”
The memoir chronicles the years-long journey of Surendra, known to the world as Kevin G the rapping mathlete from Mean Girls, in his quest to land the lead role in the film adaptation of Life of Pi. If you didn’t already know, a quick IMDB search reveals that this role eventually went to Suraj Sharma.
A Canadian memoir about failure? I was hooked from the start.
A producer on the set of Mean Girls is responsible for Surendra’s obsession. One innocuous day on set, he said to Surendra, “You should read this book. It’s about you.” On first read, the author wasn’t sure what he thought of Life of Pi. By the end of his memoir, the pages of Yann Martel’s story of survival and the power of stories was worn and dog-eared, having travelled to India and back in Surendra’s pocket.
The book’s conversational tone makes it easy to laugh out loud at the—and there are many—jokes. Surendra takes care to describe the people he meets with the love and affection of a good friend. When visiting new places, he defers to their histories with reverence. There is almost nothing Surendra can’t put a positive spin on. Except for germs. I positively squirmed when he went into detail about what he imagined was floating in the waters of public pools.
The flap copy of Rajiv Surendra’s book The Elephants in My Backyard lists a number of flowery adjectives to describe the story I held in my hands, but the phrase that struck me was “colossal defeats.”
The memoir chronicles the years-long journey of Surendra, known to the world as Kevin G the rapping mathlete from Mean Girls, in his quest to land the lead role in the film adaptation of Life of Pi. If you didn’t already know, a quick IMDB search reveals that this role eventually went to Suraj Sharma.
A Canadian memoir about failure? I was hooked from the start.
A producer on the set of Mean Girls is responsible for Surendra’s obsession. One innocuous day on set, he said to Surendra, “You should read this book. It’s about you.” On first read, the author wasn’t sure what he thought of Life of Pi. By the end of his memoir, the pages of Yann Martel’s story of survival and the power of stories was worn and dog-eared, having travelled to India and back in Surendra’s pocket.
The book’s conversational tone makes it easy to laugh out loud at the—and there are many—jokes. Surendra takes care to describe the people he meets with the love and affection of a good friend. When visiting new places, he defers to their histories with reverence. There is almost nothing Surendra can’t put a positive spin on. Except for germs. I positively squirmed when he went into detail about what he imagined was floating in the waters of public pools.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
This book is so utterly charming. I laughed, I cried, I sobbed. All the feelings.