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Brown Women Have Everything: Essays on (Dis)comfort and Delight
As a child growing up in New Delhi, Sayantani Dasgupta wanted to go on adventures involving shipwrecks and treasure chests. Her parents wanted her to stay in school instead. She satisfied her curiosity by drawing maps, inventing languages with friends, and reading English adventures, Russian folktales, Hindi comics, Bengali ghost stories. Brown Women Have Everything embraces the same spirit of wonder as we follow Dasgupta, now living and teaching in the United States, to cathedrals in Italy, pirate graveyards in North Carolina, hair salons in Idaho, her aunt's kitchen in Bangladesh, graffiti-lined streets of Colombia, the hierarchical world of academia, and her marriage to a handsome Sikh. As she moves through the world, she examines issues of the body, violence, travel, and belonging with a mix of humor, joy, pride, and outrage. While the eighteen interwoven essays in this collection call out bigotry, bias, and othering, they ultimately celebrate the ties that bind our disparate, global lives together.
- GenresNonfiction
180 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2024
12 people are currently reading
340 people want to read
About the author
Sayantani Dasgupta
4 books53 followersAn alumna of St. Stephen’s College and JNU, Sayantani Dasgupta received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Idaho. She is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She is the author of Women Who Misbehave (Penguin Random House); Fire Girl: Essays on India, America, & the In-Between—a Finalist for the Foreword Indies Awards for Creative Nonfiction—and the chapbook The House of Nails: Memories of a New Delhi Childhood. Her writing has appeared in over 50 literary journals and magazines, including, The Hindu, The Rumpus, Scroll, Economic & Political Weekly, IIC Quarterly, Chicago Quarterly Review, and others. She has been awarded a Centrum Foundation Fellowship, and a Pushcart Prize Special Mention. Besides the US, she has taught creative writing in India, Italy, and Mexico. Sayantani is also the winner of Season 3 of Write India, adjudged by the novelist Kavita Kane, and organized by the books division of The Times of India.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
October 4, 2024
In a Nutshell: A delightful OwnVoices collection of essays about the author’s experiences as a brown woman in the USA. Note that the title and the blurb are somewhat misleading. This is not a generic book on racism or stereotyping or ‘othering’, but an anecdotal memoir: the story of ONE brown woman, and a privileged one at that. It’s wonderfully written, but don’t look for generalised ‘brown woman’ life experiences.
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There should be no doubt about why I grabbed this book. That title, “Brown women have everything”, beamed out to me like a beacon. As a brown Indian woman, I was thrilled to see someone of my skin colour (or at least in the same brown-shade family) pen a set of essays about brown experiences. This turned out to be a slightly incorrect estimation.
The title is taken from something a white woman said to the author, so in that context, it is represented in the book. Unfortunately, as a label, it makes the book sound like a generalised experience of brown women, as a kind of manifesto against racial or other discrimination experienced by women of this colour. But the book is very much an autobiographical memoir, with the author talking about her early life in India, her move to the USA, and her experiences in different cities in both countries (and beyond.) If you read this book expecting anything except a memoir, you might not enjoy it.
The tagline, ‘Essays on (Dis)comfort and Delight’, is more accurate. Both the moods are reflected variously in the book, with both positive and not so positive experiences getting equal focus.
The author’s note at the start clearly indicates her writing prowess and her sense of humour. The range of topics is quite clear from the quirky titles of the essays, so no write-up feels like it talks about the same topic. Sometimes, a part of the content (especially wrt her racial background) feels a little repetitive, as if she is introducing herself and her origin yet again. It is quite possible that some of these essays were published elsewhere and compiled in this book without being edited for redundant information.
The author is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina, and her writing talent is quite evident in this book. Her words have an easy conversational flow to them, which means that she sometimes goes flitting from topic to topic within an essay in a way that made me forget where she began. But after a roundabout narration of linked anecdotes, she smoothly returns to her initial point and the whole thing makes perfect sense in retrospect. Thanks to her personality seeping through the content, we get healthy doses of humour (Loved it when she called ‘chai latte’ a monstrosity!) and introspection. There are serious topics such as school shootings and body image issues as well as lighter ones such as the struggles of cooking desi food in a new country. The reading experience is akin to sitting next to a skilful raconteur while they are narrating something captivating.
It must be made clear that this is not a typical immigrant narrative, just in case you were expecting one. The author is a privileged Indian and not representative of a majority of the country. Her story is the authentic life experience of *one* Indian-American. This in no way nullifies her experiences as there's no standard or uniform Indian narrative anyway. But it is not as dark or gritty as some immigrant stories tend to be. The racial issue is not the dominant thread in most of the essays.
I thought I would not have much in common with the author, other than the colour of our skin, our nationality (well, before she got the green card), and our gender. But to my surprise, we are the same age as well! This means that our childhood experiences in urban India have some conjunction thanks to growing up in major metropolises around the same time. While she was born in Kolkata to Bengali Hindu parents and moved to New Delhi, I was born in Mangalore to Christian parents who moved to Mumbai. (Basically, between the two of us, we cover the North, South, East and West of India! 😆) While our paths diverged when her narrative shifted gears to the USA, I still felt a strong sense of compatibility with her ideas. (If the author is reading my review: Please know that I've used 'compatible' deliberately.) There were so many instances where I felt like giving her a hug and saying, “I understand you! I feel the same! I have lived through the same!”
What I truly, truly appreciate is how the author doesn’t choose one country in favour of another. She brings out the pros and cons of both India and the USA without bias. She is respectful of both nations, and shows her fondness for both. Unlike many desi authors in the USA, she doesn’t diss India in favour of her new country of residence. If only all Indian expats in the USA wrote this way about their home country without any stereotyping!
As I always do for anthologies, I rated the essays individually. I did recalibrate my reading sensor from cultural nonfiction to memoir, and this worked excellently. Of the eighteen essays, a whopping nine essays reached or crossed the four-star mark. Six more got between 3-3.5 stars. An exceptional performance! My top favourites with 4.5+ stars each were ‘A Tale of Two Chutneys’, ‘Killer Dinner‘, ‘Valentine's Day’, ‘A Café of One's Own’, ‘Chocolate-Marmalade Green Card’, ‘The Boys of New Delhi: An Essay in Four Hurts’, and ‘Judith and Holofernes.’
All in all, I had a wonderful time reading this essay collection. Though our lives are so disparate, I identified with a lot of the author’s emotions. Whether you have something in common with this author or not, her fears and joys, her anticipations and apprehensions are so universal that everyone will find at least some points of resonance with her views.
Much recommended to every reader fond of OwnVoices memoirs.
3.9 stars, based on the average of my rating for each essay. (If you are familiar with my ratings, you know that an average coming close to 4 stars is wonderful for an anthology.)
My thanks to University of North Carolina Press for providing the DRC of “Brown Women Have Everything” via Edelweiss+. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || X/Twitter || Facebook ||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There should be no doubt about why I grabbed this book. That title, “Brown women have everything”, beamed out to me like a beacon. As a brown Indian woman, I was thrilled to see someone of my skin colour (or at least in the same brown-shade family) pen a set of essays about brown experiences. This turned out to be a slightly incorrect estimation.
The title is taken from something a white woman said to the author, so in that context, it is represented in the book. Unfortunately, as a label, it makes the book sound like a generalised experience of brown women, as a kind of manifesto against racial or other discrimination experienced by women of this colour. But the book is very much an autobiographical memoir, with the author talking about her early life in India, her move to the USA, and her experiences in different cities in both countries (and beyond.) If you read this book expecting anything except a memoir, you might not enjoy it.
The tagline, ‘Essays on (Dis)comfort and Delight’, is more accurate. Both the moods are reflected variously in the book, with both positive and not so positive experiences getting equal focus.
The author’s note at the start clearly indicates her writing prowess and her sense of humour. The range of topics is quite clear from the quirky titles of the essays, so no write-up feels like it talks about the same topic. Sometimes, a part of the content (especially wrt her racial background) feels a little repetitive, as if she is introducing herself and her origin yet again. It is quite possible that some of these essays were published elsewhere and compiled in this book without being edited for redundant information.
The author is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina, and her writing talent is quite evident in this book. Her words have an easy conversational flow to them, which means that she sometimes goes flitting from topic to topic within an essay in a way that made me forget where she began. But after a roundabout narration of linked anecdotes, she smoothly returns to her initial point and the whole thing makes perfect sense in retrospect. Thanks to her personality seeping through the content, we get healthy doses of humour (Loved it when she called ‘chai latte’ a monstrosity!) and introspection. There are serious topics such as school shootings and body image issues as well as lighter ones such as the struggles of cooking desi food in a new country. The reading experience is akin to sitting next to a skilful raconteur while they are narrating something captivating.
It must be made clear that this is not a typical immigrant narrative, just in case you were expecting one. The author is a privileged Indian and not representative of a majority of the country. Her story is the authentic life experience of *one* Indian-American. This in no way nullifies her experiences as there's no standard or uniform Indian narrative anyway. But it is not as dark or gritty as some immigrant stories tend to be. The racial issue is not the dominant thread in most of the essays.
I thought I would not have much in common with the author, other than the colour of our skin, our nationality (well, before she got the green card), and our gender. But to my surprise, we are the same age as well! This means that our childhood experiences in urban India have some conjunction thanks to growing up in major metropolises around the same time. While she was born in Kolkata to Bengali Hindu parents and moved to New Delhi, I was born in Mangalore to Christian parents who moved to Mumbai. (Basically, between the two of us, we cover the North, South, East and West of India! 😆) While our paths diverged when her narrative shifted gears to the USA, I still felt a strong sense of compatibility with her ideas. (If the author is reading my review: Please know that I've used 'compatible' deliberately.) There were so many instances where I felt like giving her a hug and saying, “I understand you! I feel the same! I have lived through the same!”
What I truly, truly appreciate is how the author doesn’t choose one country in favour of another. She brings out the pros and cons of both India and the USA without bias. She is respectful of both nations, and shows her fondness for both. Unlike many desi authors in the USA, she doesn’t diss India in favour of her new country of residence. If only all Indian expats in the USA wrote this way about their home country without any stereotyping!
As I always do for anthologies, I rated the essays individually. I did recalibrate my reading sensor from cultural nonfiction to memoir, and this worked excellently. Of the eighteen essays, a whopping nine essays reached or crossed the four-star mark. Six more got between 3-3.5 stars. An exceptional performance! My top favourites with 4.5+ stars each were ‘A Tale of Two Chutneys’, ‘Killer Dinner‘, ‘Valentine's Day’, ‘A Café of One's Own’, ‘Chocolate-Marmalade Green Card’, ‘The Boys of New Delhi: An Essay in Four Hurts’, and ‘Judith and Holofernes.’
All in all, I had a wonderful time reading this essay collection. Though our lives are so disparate, I identified with a lot of the author’s emotions. Whether you have something in common with this author or not, her fears and joys, her anticipations and apprehensions are so universal that everyone will find at least some points of resonance with her views.
Much recommended to every reader fond of OwnVoices memoirs.
3.9 stars, based on the average of my rating for each essay. (If you are familiar with my ratings, you know that an average coming close to 4 stars is wonderful for an anthology.)
My thanks to University of North Carolina Press for providing the DRC of “Brown Women Have Everything” via Edelweiss+. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || X/Twitter || Facebook ||
December 3, 2024
DNF: 2.5 stars. I think there could have been a way to write essays on the mundane and silly things in life that can make it whimsical and fun to read. Instead, this book comes off as a series of first world problems. I'm always interested in reading other South Asian women's writings, but this just wasn't it for me. Some of the essays I enjoyed, like the one about her and her husband's Greencard interview, others were just meh at best.
January 7, 2025
i actually really enjoyed this :) a lot of times reading essay collections and memoirs requires work on my end not to be severely overwhelmed by some of the material presented before me (esp if its triggering) but this is such a grounding collection of essays. <3333 i really loved the nicer in hindi one, as well as the tale of two chutneys !! i think she has a really witty and lovely writing style hehe
August 24, 2024
Full disclosure: I’m friends with the author, so obviously I’m biased. But I think any reader will find these essays funny, insightful, and surprising — the kind of stories that make you think and wonder, and that make you wish you could sit down with the writer and learn even more (which I, very fortunately, can).
December 24, 2025
Lovely voice and narrative style, and fun to read the author’s very interesting journey!
November 30, 2024
What a delightful collection of essays! I found myself dog earring pages to read aloud to my best friend . It is a great mix of funny, moving and thoughtful reflections. Highly recommended.
September 3, 2024
As the child of an immigrant family, I always look for books written by people like myself to read about their experiences here in the States. This book sounded like one one of those types of books .It wasn't. Ms. Dasgupta's life experience was not comparable to what so many of us encountered with our families growing up. It wasn't a bad book, just that she had far more priviledges than any of the immigrant and first born to immigrant children did, or do. She's offended by American's claiming to cook her food, when she couldn't cook?! I've eaten food my ethnic group eats at home in so called ethnic restaurants of my people. No it's never as good as what we make at home, but so what! At least they are trying. When friends attempt our cooking or claim to reproduce it, I'm happy to see them trying and know they enjoyed the foods enough to try and make it themselves. Just because I'm not Italian, I shouldn't make spaghetti? She is also priviledged to have come from a reasonably educated family. Too many of our families are peasant or refugees and haven't had the means to being with educated family members. Our dreams, goals,accomplishments aren't always understood or appreciated by our foreign families who think keeping a low profile is the way to go.; to not standout, be grateful for every scrape you are given, is more to their liking. Especially if you are a girl. We generally do not have our families support. .Ms. Dasgupta's book is a interesting read of her adventures and experiences, but I have no idea of the pitfalls or hindrences she's had. Oh, a couple people spoke too loud and slowly to her thinking she didn't speak English. If that's the worst things she's experienced.....wow. Their tax person offends them when he inquires what her husband 's people call themselves these days. Was he mistaking him for a Black man? Americans vary from place to place on subject of race. I have experienced Black people who call themselves Black, African -American, and Negro depending on area of the country, the state, the city., the generation. Folks from the Caribbean, and any country south of the US have the same issue. Race is a complicated. issue in the Western world. Ms. Dasgupta's book is well written - and it should be given her credentials and educational back ground. , family support, ,she's privedged compared to so many who aren't asfortunate. . Not sure who the book is for, but it was a stark contrast to the usual immigrant tale.
I received an Arc from Nwtgalley in exchange for a fair review.
I received an Arc from Nwtgalley in exchange for a fair review.
July 3, 2024
Honestly, I think Sayantani Dasgupta is a very good writer, and why wouldn't she be? An advanced degree in creative writing, 8 years as a beloved professor - she lives upto the Bengali stereotype of a nerdy, middle-class English speaker with an upbringing that infused her with 'culture'.
I really enjoyed her essays where food plays a central role like the one where she reconnects with Bengali cooking years after disappointing herself with her amateur attempts. Her account of her American hosts and what they think is Indian cooking is very amusing, and universally relatable because we've all seen them butcher Indian recipes.
A few like the one where she gets an active shooter alert are poignant, and also an interesting experiment in second-person narrative. She also strikes chords in many an immigrant heart by writing about never being fully accepted into the American workforce.
Issues like body image are clearly something Dasgupta has given a lot of thought. Time and again, she seamlessly brings up not only her own struggle with body image but how it's a global issue women struggle with, given the pervasiveness of unattainable beauty standards.
I'd highly recommend this book to people from the diaspora.
However, there are a few reasons I'll have reservations recommending it to Indians from the subcontinent. Although they're personal essays, the synopsis leads you to think that there is a deep deliberation about the themes mentioned, with wider stories to illustrate Dasgupta's theses. That's not the case. At times, they read like real problems are being co-opted by someone with first world problems, someone who can very well return to where she came from, and be none the worse for it.
This is not to discount her experiences. A better synopsis would have set the reader expectations straight.
You'll enjoy this book if you go into it fully aware that you're reading her memoirs, rather than a moving account on race or gender.
I really enjoyed her essays where food plays a central role like the one where she reconnects with Bengali cooking years after disappointing herself with her amateur attempts. Her account of her American hosts and what they think is Indian cooking is very amusing, and universally relatable because we've all seen them butcher Indian recipes.
A few like the one where she gets an active shooter alert are poignant, and also an interesting experiment in second-person narrative. She also strikes chords in many an immigrant heart by writing about never being fully accepted into the American workforce.
Issues like body image are clearly something Dasgupta has given a lot of thought. Time and again, she seamlessly brings up not only her own struggle with body image but how it's a global issue women struggle with, given the pervasiveness of unattainable beauty standards.
I'd highly recommend this book to people from the diaspora.
However, there are a few reasons I'll have reservations recommending it to Indians from the subcontinent. Although they're personal essays, the synopsis leads you to think that there is a deep deliberation about the themes mentioned, with wider stories to illustrate Dasgupta's theses. That's not the case. At times, they read like real problems are being co-opted by someone with first world problems, someone who can very well return to where she came from, and be none the worse for it.
This is not to discount her experiences. A better synopsis would have set the reader expectations straight.
You'll enjoy this book if you go into it fully aware that you're reading her memoirs, rather than a moving account on race or gender.
February 20, 2025
Gosh! Another book that I didn’t want to finish because I enjoyed reading it so much!
When I usually think of creative nonfiction, I envision a grand and life changing tale, or poetic and philosophical musings about the universe, or something equally, dramatically “big.” I’m not saying Brown Woman Have Everything is not all of those things, but I appreciated this book for how simply human it felt.
I loved that the focus of these essays was the everyday moments of life. These essays are filled with so much joy, imbeddings of longing, and lots of musings about place and people and how we interact with them. Also! THIS BOOK IS SO FUNNY YOU GUYS! Genuinely, Dasgupta’s voice is so charming and witty, and unlike anyone I’ve ever read!
As a writer, this book also is such a good example of finding inspiration from the world around us and expanding on it with research. I will be going back to this collection again whenever I’m stuck in a writing rut!
Anyways, here are my favorites!
1. “Killer Dinner”: look I read this essay like three months ago, and I think about it almost every week. This is definitely because I had such a similar experience to this, and it’s so validating to see someone else write about it!
2) “Nicer in Hindi” and “Chocolate-Marmalade Green card” (I can’t choose okay! They’re both so special!): these world have been favourites in their own, but I got to listen to Dasgupta read these live and that just added so much to the experience of consuming these! “Nicer in Hindi” especially has a special place in my heart because it was one of the first braided essays I’ve ever read.
3) I have to go with “A City in Seven Metaphors” because it has some of my favorite sentences in the whole book. Like. Some of the best, and funniest, prose ever!
This was so hard to choose because “Tale of Two Chutneys” and “A Cafe of One’s Own” are also up there in my favorites.
When I usually think of creative nonfiction, I envision a grand and life changing tale, or poetic and philosophical musings about the universe, or something equally, dramatically “big.” I’m not saying Brown Woman Have Everything is not all of those things, but I appreciated this book for how simply human it felt.
I loved that the focus of these essays was the everyday moments of life. These essays are filled with so much joy, imbeddings of longing, and lots of musings about place and people and how we interact with them. Also! THIS BOOK IS SO FUNNY YOU GUYS! Genuinely, Dasgupta’s voice is so charming and witty, and unlike anyone I’ve ever read!
As a writer, this book also is such a good example of finding inspiration from the world around us and expanding on it with research. I will be going back to this collection again whenever I’m stuck in a writing rut!
Anyways, here are my favorites!
1. “Killer Dinner”: look I read this essay like three months ago, and I think about it almost every week. This is definitely because I had such a similar experience to this, and it’s so validating to see someone else write about it!
2) “Nicer in Hindi” and “Chocolate-Marmalade Green card” (I can’t choose okay! They’re both so special!): these world have been favourites in their own, but I got to listen to Dasgupta read these live and that just added so much to the experience of consuming these! “Nicer in Hindi” especially has a special place in my heart because it was one of the first braided essays I’ve ever read.
3) I have to go with “A City in Seven Metaphors” because it has some of my favorite sentences in the whole book. Like. Some of the best, and funniest, prose ever!
This was so hard to choose because “Tale of Two Chutneys” and “A Cafe of One’s Own” are also up there in my favorites.
Read
January 13, 2025Sayantani Dasgupta’s “Brown Women Have Everything” is a poignant collection of essays tracing her journey from New Delhi, India, to various corners of America, navigating the complexities of identity, belonging, and resilience as a brown woman.
One essay opens with a reflection on the nature of history and memory. Dasgupta writes, “I know how history functions. I understand the role of erasure and remembrance, as a student of both history and literature, and because I am from Delhi, one of the oldest cities in the world, built, extended, and rebuilt on the ruins of former dynasties by the whims of whoever is in power.” This sets the stage for her exploration of what it means to navigate life as a woman of color in American academia—a world often marred by exclusion and bias.
Dasgupta also delves into the loneliness that often shadows her journey, sharing her process of overcoming feelings of isolation. Her experiences—from Idaho to North Carolina—highlight the myriad of "life games" one must play to find acceptance and success in such environments.
One of the most compelling aspects of Dasgupta’s writing is her exploration of language. She articulates how English has shaped her life and career as an English professor, becoming both a tool for advancement and a site of struggle. Her insights into the pressures and expectations placed upon her as a brown woman are both relatable and thought-provoking, shedding light on internal battles, including those related to overthinking, hair and body image.
Dasgupta invites readers to reflect on their own personal experiences, making this collection a vital read for anyone seeking to understand the nuances of race, gender, and the immigrant experience in contemporary society.
One essay opens with a reflection on the nature of history and memory. Dasgupta writes, “I know how history functions. I understand the role of erasure and remembrance, as a student of both history and literature, and because I am from Delhi, one of the oldest cities in the world, built, extended, and rebuilt on the ruins of former dynasties by the whims of whoever is in power.” This sets the stage for her exploration of what it means to navigate life as a woman of color in American academia—a world often marred by exclusion and bias.
Dasgupta also delves into the loneliness that often shadows her journey, sharing her process of overcoming feelings of isolation. Her experiences—from Idaho to North Carolina—highlight the myriad of "life games" one must play to find acceptance and success in such environments.
One of the most compelling aspects of Dasgupta’s writing is her exploration of language. She articulates how English has shaped her life and career as an English professor, becoming both a tool for advancement and a site of struggle. Her insights into the pressures and expectations placed upon her as a brown woman are both relatable and thought-provoking, shedding light on internal battles, including those related to overthinking, hair and body image.
Dasgupta invites readers to reflect on their own personal experiences, making this collection a vital read for anyone seeking to understand the nuances of race, gender, and the immigrant experience in contemporary society.
November 14, 2024
In this fascinating, immersive, and vivid narrative essay collection, Sayantani Dasgupta brings readers into her life of adventure from New Delhi to Idaho and North Carolina. Drawing on her memories and experiences, she captures the same spirit of wonder which has driven her since childhood in each essay as she explores the bigotry, bias, Othering, wonder, excitement, and connections fostered in this increasingly global community. Following her through the lenses of education, language, and academia, Dasgupta’s essays explore a host of topics relevant to all readers but specifically touching upon the experiences of brown women as she understands and witnesses it. Her narrative voice is strong, passionate, and emotional, and she really brings her incredible prose skills to bear in every single essay in this book. Roughly chronological and autobiographical, the organization of the book is perfect and really brings readers along on Dasgupta’s narrative journey. With its fantastic figures, beautiful narrative arc, and lyrical, engaging prose, this is a brilliant essay collection that spotlights both global citizenship and the life of this brilliant and capable woman. A must-read for those interested in global experiences or first-generation Indian American life or working in academia, Dasgupta’s real and honest narrative is incredibly powerful and complex.
Thanks to NetGalley and University of North Carolina Press for the advance copy.
Thanks to NetGalley and University of North Carolina Press for the advance copy.
February 9, 2025
“I am sure I learned a lot, even if only subconsciously, from my parents’ discomfort. I learned that there is honor and dignity in pursuing your dreams, in moving out of places and worlds that are comfortable and familiar, in making mistakes, and perhaps even in being homesick.”
“Her comment didn’t make me angry. It reminded me of a faculty-staff even I attended soon after accepting my current job, where two white ladies introduced themselves, shook hands with me, looked me up and down, and, by way of making conversation, said, “Of course you got the job. Brown women have everything these days. They get all the jobs.” I had looked around the room, at the 300 or so people in attendance, of whom only a handful were Black or brown, and told them that they were wrong.”
“I know how history functions. I understand the role of erasure and remembrance, as a student of both history and literature, and because I am from Delhi, one of the oldest cities in the world, built, extended, and rebuilt on the ruins of former dynasties by the whims of whoever is in power. I also know that attitudes and prejudices don’t die just because they should. Often, they linger, and raise their heads unexpectedly.”
“Plus, in America I always, always live with the fear that the person in front of me or behind me or anywhere around me could be carrying a gun and that any action of mine could provoke them to pull it out.”
“Her comment didn’t make me angry. It reminded me of a faculty-staff even I attended soon after accepting my current job, where two white ladies introduced themselves, shook hands with me, looked me up and down, and, by way of making conversation, said, “Of course you got the job. Brown women have everything these days. They get all the jobs.” I had looked around the room, at the 300 or so people in attendance, of whom only a handful were Black or brown, and told them that they were wrong.”
“I know how history functions. I understand the role of erasure and remembrance, as a student of both history and literature, and because I am from Delhi, one of the oldest cities in the world, built, extended, and rebuilt on the ruins of former dynasties by the whims of whoever is in power. I also know that attitudes and prejudices don’t die just because they should. Often, they linger, and raise their heads unexpectedly.”
“Plus, in America I always, always live with the fear that the person in front of me or behind me or anywhere around me could be carrying a gun and that any action of mine could provoke them to pull it out.”
August 26, 2024
From the technical perspective, Brown Women Have Everything by Sayantani Dasgupta demonstrates the right techniques and skills that make writing quite effective. The flow of narrative and interconnectedness between the 18 essays is fluid to keep a reader engaged.
But what I didn't find engaging was the actual content of the book. I attribute this mostly to the blurb of the book that led me to believe that the essays would provide deeper insights into race and gender from the perspective of brown women. However, it is only when I started reading, I discovered that the essays are mostly an autobiographical look at the author's own experience as a brown woman teaching academia in a western country. While her experience is significant, I could not find much sense of universalism in them, like I had expected. The only exception to this was her essays on hair and appearance, which I found quite impactful. I think, it's fair enough to say, I am not the target reader for this book.
On a positive note, the cover of the book is quite well done and does justice to the overall content of the book.
Thanks to Netgalley and University of North Carolina Press for sending across a copy of the book.
But what I didn't find engaging was the actual content of the book. I attribute this mostly to the blurb of the book that led me to believe that the essays would provide deeper insights into race and gender from the perspective of brown women. However, it is only when I started reading, I discovered that the essays are mostly an autobiographical look at the author's own experience as a brown woman teaching academia in a western country. While her experience is significant, I could not find much sense of universalism in them, like I had expected. The only exception to this was her essays on hair and appearance, which I found quite impactful. I think, it's fair enough to say, I am not the target reader for this book.
On a positive note, the cover of the book is quite well done and does justice to the overall content of the book.
Thanks to Netgalley and University of North Carolina Press for sending across a copy of the book.
January 11, 2025
As someone who grew up in New Delhi and now lives in the USA - with a history of layered diasporic dynamics in my family - my parents migrated to Delhi from Himachal (so I️ was always an outsider in Himachal but also did not have much of family and cousins while growing up in Delhi) and then my husband and I️ set up our lives in USA - and I️ continue to feel the feeling of being displaced.
So many of Sayantani’s essays struck a cord with me - I️ don’t care if she comes from a privileged background per a few reviewers - it’s not her onus to represent every faction of diaspora. She def spoke to me - and my lived experiences as someone who deeply craves being in Delhi - even though I️ may have 1000 complaints from Delhi as a native. That is also totally my right and no one can take that away from me. Sayantani has also been quite vocal about some horrific experiences she had growing up in an unforgiving city like Delhi in her prior book but that doesn’t diminish the idea of feeling love towards the city that shaped you. The way she verbalized her nostalgia made me feel so seen and heard.
So many of Sayantani’s essays struck a cord with me - I️ don’t care if she comes from a privileged background per a few reviewers - it’s not her onus to represent every faction of diaspora. She def spoke to me - and my lived experiences as someone who deeply craves being in Delhi - even though I️ may have 1000 complaints from Delhi as a native. That is also totally my right and no one can take that away from me. Sayantani has also been quite vocal about some horrific experiences she had growing up in an unforgiving city like Delhi in her prior book but that doesn’t diminish the idea of feeling love towards the city that shaped you. The way she verbalized her nostalgia made me feel so seen and heard.
August 13, 2025
While I liked this compilation of essays that reads very 'memoir/my life' as opposed to the general view of Brown women I thought it would be based on the title, it also left me wanting... Given this is a memoir of sorts, it lacked more depth - I wanted to see more delving into the experience itself, rather than the pretty-surface feel of those essays. Enjoyable to read, of course, and very tinged with the experience of an Indian-born woman now in the US, it was refreshing to see a perspective that didn't give into doldrums and despair and focused on the lightness of matters (the green card interview was funny, the 'coarse' hair moment was a different view). It did feel the author came down a bit (or a lot!) judgemental and hard on her colleagues and the people she met in the US, but again, as a memoir of sorts, she's entitled to her opinion and sharing them.
Still, I wish this book had been more - more about Brown women, or more about the author herself and her experiences. Trying to bridge the two felt like a strange no man's land in between...
Still, I wish this book had been more - more about Brown women, or more about the author herself and her experiences. Trying to bridge the two felt like a strange no man's land in between...
November 9, 2024
As promised in the subtitle, this essay collection is full of delight. Its eighteen essays expertly weave together scene, reflection, and research (into subjects as varied as hair, gun violence, art, and mythology) to produce a fascinating tapestry. Dasgupta’s voice is assured, humorous, and sometimes biting—though always deservedly so, and balanced with good humor, grace, and self-deprecation. My favorite elements are the food writing, which thoroughly engaged my senses, and Dasgupta’s descriptions of living as an international grad student in rural Idaho in 2006, which transported me to a time and place I haven't encountered elsewhere in my reading. The book struck a balance I always appreciate: It is relatively quick and easy to read, but it also packs keen insights will stay with me for a long while.
May 5, 2025
Sayantani Dasgupta has cleverly described what it is to be an Indian woman immigrating to a foreign land. From the tales of her hair being considered "course" there (but not at home), to dealing with a shooter, to craving meals from back home, to moving cities within that foreign land, she covers an array of topics which touch the lives of immigrants. The book has witty anecdotes, covers serious issues and delves into seemingly mundane problems which have affected her life in the said foreign country so far.
The only thing that I can critcise is that the book could have given deeper insights into how her being Indian (read: brown) has impacted her experience. We get some taste of it, but more stories oriented in that direction– maybe like the Namesake or Americanah– would have been interesting.
Regardless, it is a good read!
The only thing that I can critcise is that the book could have given deeper insights into how her being Indian (read: brown) has impacted her experience. We get some taste of it, but more stories oriented in that direction– maybe like the Namesake or Americanah– would have been interesting.
Regardless, it is a good read!
October 3, 2024
The tongue-in-cheek title of this essay collection gives you a clue: it’s something someone said to the author, a brown woman immigrant in the US. (The sheer audacity, really.) Dasgupta collects here her thoughts on and experiences of her family of origin, her hair, her predilection for visiting cemeteries (a cultural experience for her, being Hindu), how she got her green card because of a chocolate-marmalade wedding cake, formative childhood experiences with boys, and a work trip to Italy. These are essays on womanhood, being a wife, Living While Brown and Travelling While Brown, being othered and being a stranger, migration and life in the US, food and cooking, heritage and inheritance, books and reading, faith, religion, secularity, language, and more. With breadth and depth, it’s a wonderful, affecting, compulsively readable and often humorous collection of thoughts on a life.
Thank you to University of North Carolina Press and NetGalley for early access.
Thank you to University of North Carolina Press and NetGalley for early access.
April 11, 2025
I want to meet Sayatani Dasgupta! This collection of her essays is so lively and original, as she describes her experiences as an Indian woman in America. If I were in her position as a professor of writing, I would use this book as an illustration of what it means for an author to have a strong and distinctive voice. She hides behind nothing. She is funny and insightful. I would rush to take a course from her!
October 6, 2024
"Brown Women Have Everything" is an empowering narrative that celebrates the strength, resilience, and multifaceted identity of women of color, offering an inspiring reflection on culture, heritage, and self-worth.
April 10, 2025
Quick read and well-written. A bit of a mixed bag though. Some of the pieces are poignant and relatable. Some would work better as blog posts. I did recommend to other brown women I know in academia. Worth a read for sure.
July 29, 2025
I found this book so warm and comforting. I am not an immigrant myself but I am the daughter of them, and this book is just so real. The majority of her stories are set in a place I'm familiar with, and it's just so, so good. I recommend. It's great.
January 22, 2025
Small experiences are worth recollecting.
I particularly enjoyed “The Boys of New Delhi: An Essay in Four Hurts”, “Killer Dinner”, and “Fifteen Notes on a Day Job”.
I particularly enjoyed “The Boys of New Delhi: An Essay in Four Hurts”, “Killer Dinner”, and “Fifteen Notes on a Day Job”.
April 4, 2025
Good stuff, some essays although seemed to be written from a woman of diaspora, some seemed like it was deliberately written keeping in mind the white audience.
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