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A review by ramonamead
Members Only by Sameer Pandya
4.0
I'm kicking myself for not reading this book sooner! It's a timely read, and gives a story about race and class that's different from the most common ones we hear about in the news. I was engaged from start to finish, constantly amazed by the turns in the story and wondering where it would end up.
Our narrator is Raj, an Indian-American college professor and father of two boys with his white wife. Raj is having a rough week. On Sunday evening, he makes a dumb joke without thinking while interviewing a black couple who have applied to join his predominately white tennis club. The next day, his lecture is recorded by a student and published online which leads to him being accused as being reverse racist by a group of extremely conservative students. These two events each snowball on their own, causing Raj to face a lot of ugly truth about his life he'd been happily ignoring for years.
I liked Raj from the start. He's a genuinely nice guy, trying to do his best. He's never felt like he fit in wherever he's lived, and he's just looking for a sense of community. The writing is sharp and funny inn a dark way. I appreciated having a glimpse into the mind and life of this character I don't have much in common with and could never imagine what his life is life. I have a little bit of an idea now what it might be like to always feel like an outsider because of your skin color or religion.
This is an important read, now more than ever. It demonstrates that things aren't always as straightforward as they seem. I highly recommend it for readers of literary fiction and current affairs.
Many thanks to NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
Our narrator is Raj, an Indian-American college professor and father of two boys with his white wife. Raj is having a rough week. On Sunday evening, he makes a dumb joke without thinking while interviewing a black couple who have applied to join his predominately white tennis club. The next day, his lecture is recorded by a student and published online which leads to him being accused as being reverse racist by a group of extremely conservative students. These two events each snowball on their own, causing Raj to face a lot of ugly truth about his life he'd been happily ignoring for years.
I liked Raj from the start. He's a genuinely nice guy, trying to do his best. He's never felt like he fit in wherever he's lived, and he's just looking for a sense of community. The writing is sharp and funny inn a dark way. I appreciated having a glimpse into the mind and life of this character I don't have much in common with and could never imagine what his life is life. I have a little bit of an idea now what it might be like to always feel like an outsider because of your skin color or religion.
This is an important read, now more than ever. It demonstrates that things aren't always as straightforward as they seem. I highly recommend it for readers of literary fiction and current affairs.
Many thanks to NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.