This was an interesting contemporary novel about an Indian man who grew up struggling to find his place in life once his family moved to the US and continues to struggle with finding it as an adult. Our main character, Raj, makes a racist joke in a small meeting in attempts to form a relationship with a new family interviewing for a slot in their local tennis club. "Members Only" follows Raj throughout the week following his faux pas and where he starts getting accused of being racist toward another group of people by his students.
This book should probably be called "Raj's Series of Poor Decisions" because I really couldn't believe some of the things he said and did. Raj is not entirely at fault for some of the accusations or situations that arose but he definitely made them worse. His inner longing to fit in with his academic and social peers must be clouded his common sense at times.
I realize as a white person, it's easy for me to have this perspective. I've never had pressure to try and "fit in" in a racial sense the way Raj and his children do. However, some of the situations in this book are pretty straightforward for everyone, regardless of race. You don't say what Raj said at the tennis club interview. You don't defend yourself by blowing up at people when confronted with differing opinions (well, obviously some do but that's not the best tactic). Making yourself the victim doesn't excuse what you've done or said in another similar situations. I'm unclear if the author wanted us to feel sympathetic toward Raj or not. For the majority of the book, I did not.
This book definitely opened up my eyes at some cultural differences and I do love reading about stories and situations entirely different from mine. Thank you to Bookish First and Mariner Books publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book should probably be called "Raj's Series of Poor Decisions" because I really couldn't believe some of the things he said and did. Raj is not entirely at fault for some of the accusations or situations that arose but he definitely made them worse. His inner longing to fit in with his academic and social peers must be clouded his common sense at times.
I realize as a white person, it's easy for me to have this perspective. I've never had pressure to try and "fit in" in a racial sense the way Raj and his children do. However, some of the situations in this book are pretty straightforward for everyone, regardless of race. You don't say what Raj said at the tennis club interview. You don't defend yourself by blowing up at people when confronted with differing opinions (well, obviously some do but that's not the best tactic). Making yourself the victim doesn't excuse what you've done or said in another similar situations. I'm unclear if the author wanted us to feel sympathetic toward Raj or not. For the majority of the book, I did not.
This book definitely opened up my eyes at some cultural differences and I do love reading about stories and situations entirely different from mine. Thank you to Bookish First and Mariner Books publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.