Members Only Audiobook By Sameer Pandya cover art

Members Only

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Members Only

By: Sameer Pandya
Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra
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About this listen

First the white members of Raj Bhatt's posh tennis club call him racist. Then his life falls apart. Along the way, he wonders: Where does he, a brown man, belong in America?

Raj Bhatt is often unsure of where he belongs. Having moved to America from Bombay as a child, he knew few Indian kids. Now middle-aged, he lives mostly happily in California, with a job at a university. Still, his white wife seems to fit in better than he does at times, especially at their tennis club, a place he's cautiously come to love.

But it's there that, in one week, his life unravels. It begins at a meeting for potential new members: Raj thrills to find an African American couple on the list; he dreams of a more diverse club. But in an effort to connect, he makes a racist joke. The committee turns on him, no matter the years of prejudice he's put up with. And worse still, he soon finds his job is in jeopardy after a group of students report him as a reverse racist, thanks to his alleged "anti-Western bias".

Heartfelt, humorous, and hard-hitting, Members Only explores what membership and belonging mean, as Raj navigates the complicated space between black and white America.

©2020 Sameer Pandya (P)2020 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literature & Fiction World Literature Comedy Witty Heartfelt Student
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First, I'm shocked that there aren't more reviews here because this is a great book. It looks at class and ethnicity, winding the themes into a well-written tale about one man's journey of self-discovery. The characters are well developed, particularly the protagonist, Raj, a lovable but flawed fellow. Really, just about anyone with a decent level of self-awareness and humility will see themselves in Raj. The author nicely weaves in humor, his descriptions are wonderful.

Full disclosure---I first read this book when it was first published and loved it. When I heard that his second book was forthcoming, I used a credit to listen to this one again and loved every minute. The narrator brought the story to life.

I am now into "Beautiful Boys," the author's new book, and thoroughly enjoying it. I'm adding Mr. Pandya to my "follow" cadre and look forward to his future work!

A Gem

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I found this story had a rather slow start and initially was perplexed as it is a Nerdette podcast selection. But at about a quarter of the way through I was riveted and binged the rest of the book in a couple days. This book gave me so much food for thought, I feel stuffed. In a good way. Enjoy this journey with the protagonist Raj. He’s complex and ultimately heroic.

Stick with it... so worth it!

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