Sameer Pandya – författare

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? This award-winning novel "offers deep insight into the ways the characters are shaped by racism" (Publishers Weekly).An NPR Best Book · A Millions Most Anticipated Title of 2020 · A Rumpus Best Book for Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage MonthRaj 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.

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?

When the star players on a high school football team are accused of violence by another student, their secrets—and the secrets of their parents—threaten to shatter their entire community in a gripping novel of race, class, and privilege from the author of Members Only.“Timely and timeless . . . gorgeous yet understated storytelling . . . The struggles in Our Beautiful Boys are not exceptional dilemmas but rather uncomfortably common situations.”—Nic Stone, The New York Times Book ReviewVikram Shastri has always been a good kid. He’s got a 4.6 GPA, listens to his parents, barely hits the parties, and is on track for a fancy college. But when he gets the chance to play on his high school football team, his world suddenly starts to shift. Basking in their recent victory, Vikram and his teammates Diego and MJ attend a party at an abandoned house in the Southern California foothills, located right below three ancient caves. They find themselves lost in the dark of night in one of the caves, carried away by male bravado, with a classmate who has annoyed them for years.But when the kid emerges with injuries that prove to be more serious than the all-star boys intended, they are suspended for the rest of the season, and the boys’ parents are brought in to manage the situation. As the parents try to protect their boys, they are also managing their own complicated family and professional lives. While the parents work with, and against, one another to figure out the truth about that night, the boys must come to terms with how much of their own secrets they’re willing to reveal to clear their names.Insightful and deeply human, Our Beautiful Boys is about race and class, parents trying to raise good boys in our fraught times, and the conflict we find when all of these slam together. It’s about the kids inside each parent and the games the world makes each of us play.

Together, the five stories and novella in this collection follow the lives of first- and second-generation Indian Americans living in contemporary California. The characters share a similar sensibility: a sense that immigration is a distant memory, yet an experience that continues to shape the decisions they make in subtle and surprising ways as they go about the complicated business of everyday living. The collection is anchored by the title novella about a love triangle between an aging, blind writer, his younger beautiful wife, and a young man desperate to start a writing life. Over several months, the three will get to know one another and move toward a moment that will change the lives of each of them forever.

''A profound meditation on class, privilege and masculinity'' Observer''An insightful, nuanced story ... I couldn''t put it down'' Charles Yu''Timely and timeless ... A book about the lies we knowingly or unwittingly tell ourselves'' New York TimesI know my son. I know what he is and what he''s not capable of.Revelling in the triumph of a high school football win, MJ, Vikram and Diego find themselves at an ill-fated party, on a night that ends with the school bully in hospital. When no one comes forward with the truth of what actually happened, all three teenage “all stars” are suspended for the rest of the season, their futures suddenly uncertain.In the aftermath, the families gather to assess the damage to their children''s prospects, their reputations and their own relationships. As other secrets begin to bubble to the surface, each parent attempts to navigate the crisis at hand, confronted with their own inner turmoil and the question none of them want to face: how well can you ever truly know your own child?Our Beautiful Boys is a page-turning and incisive novel about masculinity, race, education and privilege, and the conflict that arises when all these collide.

''A profound meditation on class, privilege and masculinity'' Observer''An insightful, nuanced story ... I couldn''t put it down'' Charles Yu''Timely and timeless ... A book about the lies we knowingly or unwittingly tell ourselves'' New York TimesI know my son. I know what he is and what he''s not capable of.Revelling in the triumph of a high school football win, MJ, Vikram and Diego find themselves at an ill-fated party, on a night that ends with the school bully in hospital. When no one comes forward with the truth of what actually happened, all three teenage “all stars” are suspended for the rest of the season, their futures suddenly uncertain.In the aftermath, the families gather to assess the damage to their children''s prospects, their reputations and their own relationships. As other secrets begin to bubble to the surface, each parent attempts to navigate the crisis at hand, confronted with their own inner turmoil and the question none of them want to face: how well can you ever truly know your own child?Our Beautiful Boys is a page-turning and incisive novel about masculinity, race, education and privilege, and the conflict that arises when all these collide.

‘A profound meditation on class, privilege and masculinity’ Observer‘An insightful, nuanced story ... I couldn’t put it down’ Charles Yu‘Timely and timeless ... A book about the lies we knowingly or unwittingly tell ourselves’ New York TimesI know my son. I know what he is and what he’s not capable of.Revelling in the triumph of a high school football win, MJ, Vikram and Diego find themselves at an ill-fated party, on a night that ends with the school bully in hospital. When no one comes forward with the truth of what actually happened, all three teenage “all stars” are suspended for the rest of the season, their futures suddenly uncertain.In the aftermath, the families gather to assess the damage to their children’s prospects, their reputations and their own relationships. As other secrets begin to bubble to the surface, each parent attempts to navigate the crisis at hand, confronted with their own inner turmoil and the question none of them want to face: how well can you ever truly know your own child?Our Beautiful Boys is a page-turning and incisive novel about masculinity, race, education and privilege, and the conflict that arises when all these collide.

‘A profound meditation on class, privilege and masculinity’ Observer‘An insightful, nuanced story ... I couldn’t put it down’ Charles Yu‘Timely and timeless ... A book about the lies we knowingly or unwittingly tell ourselves’ New York TimesI know my son. I know what he is and what he’s not capable of.Revelling in the triumph of a high school football win, MJ, Vikram and Diego find themselves at an ill-fated party, on a night that ends with the school bully in hospital. When no one comes forward with the truth of what actually happened, all three teenage “all stars” are suspended for the rest of the season, their futures suddenly uncertain.In the aftermath, the families gather to assess the damage to their children’s prospects, their reputations and their own relationships. As other secrets begin to bubble to the surface, each parent attempts to navigate the crisis at hand, confronted with their own inner turmoil and the question none of them want to face: how well can you ever truly know your own child?Our Beautiful Boys is a page-turning and incisive novel about masculinity, race, education and privilege, and the conflict that arises when all these collide.