While I enjoyed the book, I felt like there was so much untapped potential in terms of themes that could've been more deeply explored. But still enjoyed it and look forward to seeing what the author comes up with next!

Great idea for a book and really well executed. A thoroughly good read. Highly recommended. .

This was a good book. I enjoyed t and shared with a coworker from India.

A literary fiction novel alternating between the viewpoints of Harit, a shy Indian immigrant who is isolated from everyone around him, making do by working in a department store and going home to his mother, who is in such a pit of grief that she hasn't spoken a word in years; Ranjana, a much more successful Indian immigrant, both financially and socially, who nonetheless feels a bit unfulfilled and so has begun to secretly write vampire romances; and Prashant, Ranjana's son who is enjoying his first semester at Yale by chasing after various girls. Minor characters occasionally step in to take over the narration for a chapter or two, such as Teddy, Harit's flamboyantly gay middle-aged co-worker, or Harit's mother, but the main focus is on the three above.

In many ways, this is a very typical novel for its genre: lonely people bumbling through their lives, trying to understand who they are and how to interact with the culture around them. It's improved by its touches of levity and brightness, including an almost unrealistically happy ending, but it's hard not to be pleased to see these characters succeed. I absolutely adore Ranjana's vampire obsession, which feels so bizarre surrounded by the very serious-minded literary quality of the rest of the book. Though I do have to protest that Satyal does not seem to have done his research. He says, Anne Rice had as many orgasms in her books as commas, but come on, Anne Rice almost never writes explicit sex scenes. Clearly it should be Laurell K. Hamilton had as many orgasms in her books as commas, and I know he's heard of Hamilton since he name-dropped her in an earlier scene. We also get an excerpt of Ranjana's novel-in-progress at one point, and it's much more Dracula or even Nosferatu than anything from the modern paranormal romance genre. But I forgive these mistakes because awkward moms writing vampire romance is beautiful and should be in more novels about the Immigrant Experience.

Overall it's not a particularly outstanding or memorable example of what it's doing, but it's just odd enough to be worth reading, and your time will be pleasantly spent.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2101813487

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I hardly read the blurb of a book before reading the book itself. This is because I don’t want to have a preconceived notion of what the story-line or message of the book is.

I had wrongly assumed this was a non-fiction book about Indian names (just because I could tell that the author had an Indian background). I was wrong.

It ended up being a good work of fiction that initially had a slow and confusing start. In its third chapter, I starting putting the pieces together, remembering the names of the characters and even checking on YouTube for the correct pronunciations of the various characters’ names (Achyut, Harit, Ranjana, Mohan etc).

The plot is about about different Indian families who immigrated to the US at different times. You would think it is the usual story-line but it has its own twists and turns that keep you glued to the end.

I like the way Rakesh explores different avenues in this book especially depicting heterosexuality and homosexuality as inherent in various individuals irrespective of race and background. also how friendship cuts across age groups if one is open to being approachable and vulnerable.

I also like how he shows the importance of consciously and systematically building self confidence and self esteem. In my usual fashion, I am not going to give away any spoilers in this book but just enough intangibles that may convince you that this book is a well written one with a narrative you can identify with in different ways.

Favourite Quote: “We could not know what we were capable of doing unless the opportunity to do such things was presented to us.”

A bit scattershot, for me. The story focuses on many different characters -- by the end of the book, we have had interludes centered around Harit, his mother, Ranjana, Prashant, Teddy, and Mohan -- and it isn't always immediately clear who we've shifted to (particularly in Teddy's case, as he apparently changed his name from Frederick at some point, so until the name change is revealed pages later, you're thinking, "What? Who is this? Someone new, this late in the book?"). In fact, none of the character's paths even intersect until about 30-40% into the book, leading to a rather disjointed reading experience. I do like the way that their stories eventually merge, but it takes quite awhile for that to happen, to the point where I almost considered not finishing this one.

In some ways, this book is more of a character study than a novel in the expected sense. I like that the author acknowledges his own flouting of the conventional plot by directly addressing the fact that real life has a way of failing to give us the tidy conclusions you see in novels. That said, there's a reason why novels have a traditional structure, and for me, the absence of that structure here leads to a not wholly satisfying experience. And oddly enough, for all the flouting of narrative conventions and the direct addressing of the messiness of real-life vs. literature, the conclusion seems a little too neat. Ranjana becomes a New York Times bestselling author? Really? The odds of becoming a NYT bestselling author are infinitesimal. I would've liked to see her character find fulfillment in a more believable way -- through her writing, yes, but does overwhelming commercial success have to be the only way to achieve that?

A mixed bag, overall. I think a tighter focus would've made for a better finished product overall -- for me there's too many characters competing for the reader's attention here, to the point that we never feel particularly invested in any of them. Ranjana was the most interesting character IMO, and the others are more or less distractions -- certainly I don't think the sections on Harit's mother, Mohan, or Teddy are particularly useful -- the information contained therein could've been revealed otherwise, without losing focus from the main narrative of Harit and Ranjana coming into their own.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. This is my honest review.

This was a book written so beautifully, so lyrically, that it was as if the words had been painted on canvas instead of merely typed onto paper.

Why only two stars then? And why did I not finish this book even though I had read 75% of it?

Because even with all of its beauty the story was slow, the commentary about Americans was horrid, the characters thought they were above it all and I really wasn't interested in the sex lives of these people.

In fact I never once felt connected enough with any of these characters/caricature's.


I could say much about what this story was *supposed* to be all about (friendship, relationships, questioning ones sexuality), but quite frankly I was only able to decipher the surface story and that was enough for me.

Perhaps If I were a better educated person I could have gotten more out of this book.

*ARC

A slow, thoughtful, wryly amusing look at America through the eyes of Indian immigrants. This is not a page-turner, and is full of long descriptions and ruminating on the strangeness of living in a foreign land, sexuality, language, friendship and marriage. There is a multi-faceted storyline about gay relationships and their place in Indian culture, as well as Indian marriages in general. I loved the whole writing/author plotline and just adored the way this book ended.

No One Can Pronounce My Name is the story of a group of Indian immigrants living in Cleveland, Ohio. Forty-something Harit is lonely and depressed after the death of his beloved older sister. He's doing his best to adequately care for his old and grief-stricken mother, but he's struggling. To get out of the house, Harit begins working in the men's department of a local clothing store, and, luckily, he finally finds a friend in Teddy, his odd but affable gay coworker.

Not too far away, in another struggling household, Ranjana has just sent her only child, Prashant, off to college. Prashant is a mostly devoted son and top of his class in chemistry, but love (or is it lust?) has him rethinking his life goals and direction. Not that Ranjana is noticing. She's too concerned with her own general boredom in life and, especially, in her marriage. (Finding out that her husband is probably cheating on her certainly doesn't help things.) Ranjana's dissatisfaction eventually motivates her to find a job working as a receptionist at a medical office. It's through this job, and a series of crazy, seemingly unrelated events, that she finally meets Harit.

If you think you know where this book is going, I can assure you that you don't. This storyline is unique, fresh, and unpredictable. I may have seen certain plot points coming, but only after having been surprised a few times first. The characters are intriguing, too. Both Harit and Ranjana are easy to empathize with, but they are also quirky and imperfect. I felt invested in their journeys from the (almost) start.

So why only three stars? Well, this book is tough to get into and tough to complete. At almost 400 pages, it's about twice as long as it should be. Yes, the premise is great, the characters great. But dear God, it goes on forever. (Ranjana and Harit don't even MEET each other until the last third of the book. That is A LOT of build up, my friends.) I'm a fast reader, especially when it comes to fiction, but reading this one, especially in the beginning, was damn near torturous.

Honestly, I wish I could give this book more stars! It has so much good stuff going for it, but it really needed to be cut down by at least a third. I wish the story had been tighter and more concise without all the thought-by-thought commentary from so many different characters.

Rakesh Satyal pulled me in to his new novel, No One Can Pronounce My Name, even though I didn't like any of his characters at first reading. Harit and Ranjana hold the novel together. Their families and friends circle them in the dance of life as immigrants who are looking for meaning and happiness but have no confidence that those gifts will ever find them in Cleveland, Ohio. Harit is a single forty something man who works in a department store. He lives with his mother and they are both grieving the loss of his sister, Swarti. Ranjana is also a forty something immigrant who is married to a chemistry professor with a son at Princeton. She has served her husband, Mohan, as a dutiful wife and given her life to raising her son, Prashant. The family doesn't seem to really connect and when Prashant goes away to Princeton, Ranjana turns to a job in a doctor's office for a way to fill up her time. Ranjana is a writer, in secret, of "romance" novels and she dutifully attends her writers' group though it seems that it is mostly a waste of time.

There is much heartbreak in this story. The loneliness of life as an immigrant is striking, even when a family such as Ranjana and Mohan have a circle of Indian friends and attend all the social functions required to maintain membership in that group. Harit is totally alone except for a work colleague, Teddy, who drags him to a local TGIF Friday's for drinks. He goes home to his mourning mother who sits alone. Harit has many secrets that weigh him down and even Teddy's boisterous and seemingly well meaning camaraderie cannot help Harit lift himself from a state of hopelessness.

The immigrant experience has been well documented in the news and in the arts. This novel adds to that body of work that helps us who are generations removed from our immigrant ancestors catch a glimpse into what huge sacrifices immigrants, especially those from the culture of India, live with from day to day and on into their lives in the new country they have chosen. Often those choices are made for the children...let the children have a better life. It is for the children that the adults move to the other side of the planet and strive to create a new life, living quietly with the disappointments they feel cannot be overcome. Thanks to RS's incredible writing skills, we get a glimmer of hope for those who dare to chance a connection with someone. Not all life has to be lived in quiet misery. The brave ones who can reach out to just one person may find a new life unfolding in soul saving events.

ARC received courtesy of NetGalley and Picador (May 2nd 2017).

Another fantastic book from Rakesh Satyal. My only challenge with it was my issue and not his--I kept having to put this down and losing the thread. It took me longer to read than normal due to outside commitments and then I'd have to remember where I was and how various characters were connected. This is a great pick for book clubs--the characters have complexity and depth worthy of discussion.

This novel shifts perspective between two immigrant families, and further between the first and second generation in each of these families. The writing is wry and strong throughout, but the thread is sometimes hard to follow and disjointed. The overall plot is something of a comedy of errors and once the book gets off the ground, is fun to follow.