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Members Only
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.
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.
11 pages, Audiobook
First published July 7, 2020
198 people are currently reading
3793 people want to read
About the author
Sameer Pandya
4 books99 followersSameer Pandya is the author of the story collection THE BLIND WRITER, which was longlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award. He is also the recipient of the PEN/Civitella Fellowship. His fiction, commentary, and cultural criticism has appeared in a range of publications, including the Atlantic, Salon, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and Narrative Magazine. He teaches creative writing and South Asian and Asian American literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara. MEMBERS ONLY is his first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 341 reviews
July 7, 2020
Raj, an Indian man born in Bombay and living in the United States since he was 8, is an Anthropology professor at a local college in California. His wife Eva, a white woman born and raised on the West Coast, grew up going to a Tennis Club (TC) and when she and Raj move back to California, they decide to join so Raj can continue to play tennis and their kids can socialize with other children and use the pool and facilities.
Initially, Raj feels like joining the TC is a way for him to find his footing and feel accepted, something with which he's always struggled. The TC is overwhelmingly white, a fact Raj is all too aware of and is constantly reminded of by others unconsciously. Raj is asked to join the membership committee for the TC and he hopes to be the change he wishes to see at the club. When another couple sponsors the Browns, a black couple, Raj is thrilled. So thrilled in fact, that he gets in his own way and nervously blurts a phrase that is construed as a racist remark during the Browns' membership interview.
Raj is horrified and ashamed of his slip. His attempts at relating and being funny have completely backfired. But worse is the reaction of the other members of the TC. For years Raj has been the victim of ignorant and condescending remarks from his peers at the club and never has anyone defended him. Now, the committee members are outraged, with the Browns' sponsors going so far as to say that Raj and his family are no longer welcome as members of the club. Embarrassed but also demeaned, Raj's anger toward the injustice of his treatment grows.
Raj's luck goes from bad to worse back at school on Monday. During a routine anthropology lecture, a student films a piece of his lecture which includes a philosophy that criticizes Christianity and America. The video is posted to an online forum where Raj is accused of being racist against whites. Anonymously, the student also files a formal complaint against Raj with the dean of the college. Now, not only is his reputation at stake, but also his job.
Accused of being discriminatory against people of color and against white America, Raj is stuck between a rock and a hard place. His life is spiraling out of control. People start leaving nasty voice messages on his home phone, #FireDrRaj trends on Twitter, someone is potentially following him, and on aggressive on campus protests crop up. Raj fears for his and his family's safety, even more so than he usually does by being brown in America.
The novel primarily takes place over the span of one, horrible week. It's an ever present reminder of how quickly a situation can get out of hand, especially given the current social media climate.
My heart went out to Raj. He is a relatable character - someone we all see a bit of ourselves in. I could feel my anxiety building as Raj made one terrible decision after another. I often found myself wondering if I genuinely believed that I'd handle anything better if I were in such an awful position. Raj had a kind heart and his missteps seemed to come from places of insecurity rather than any malicious intent. I really lauded Raj's sense of self, ability to treat others kindly even when he was being mistreated, and propensity toward forgiveness.
The writing was excellent and the backstories Raj told provided authenticity and depth to his character. This was definitely 4.5 stars for me but I opted to round down because I wanted a little more from the story and it wrapped up a little too quickly for me. Race and race relations are such important topics and something we need to talk about more. The underlying messages and overall story were incredibly powerful. I especially loved that the story focused on an Indian, as I hadn't read a novel about racial tension and discrimination from that perspective previously. This is a must read!
Thank you to BookishFirst, Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
Initially, Raj feels like joining the TC is a way for him to find his footing and feel accepted, something with which he's always struggled. The TC is overwhelmingly white, a fact Raj is all too aware of and is constantly reminded of by others unconsciously. Raj is asked to join the membership committee for the TC and he hopes to be the change he wishes to see at the club. When another couple sponsors the Browns, a black couple, Raj is thrilled. So thrilled in fact, that he gets in his own way and nervously blurts a phrase that is construed as a racist remark during the Browns' membership interview.
Raj is horrified and ashamed of his slip. His attempts at relating and being funny have completely backfired. But worse is the reaction of the other members of the TC. For years Raj has been the victim of ignorant and condescending remarks from his peers at the club and never has anyone defended him. Now, the committee members are outraged, with the Browns' sponsors going so far as to say that Raj and his family are no longer welcome as members of the club. Embarrassed but also demeaned, Raj's anger toward the injustice of his treatment grows.
Raj's luck goes from bad to worse back at school on Monday. During a routine anthropology lecture, a student films a piece of his lecture which includes a philosophy that criticizes Christianity and America. The video is posted to an online forum where Raj is accused of being racist against whites. Anonymously, the student also files a formal complaint against Raj with the dean of the college. Now, not only is his reputation at stake, but also his job.
Accused of being discriminatory against people of color and against white America, Raj is stuck between a rock and a hard place. His life is spiraling out of control. People start leaving nasty voice messages on his home phone, #FireDrRaj trends on Twitter, someone is potentially following him, and on aggressive on campus protests crop up. Raj fears for his and his family's safety, even more so than he usually does by being brown in America.
The novel primarily takes place over the span of one, horrible week. It's an ever present reminder of how quickly a situation can get out of hand, especially given the current social media climate.
My heart went out to Raj. He is a relatable character - someone we all see a bit of ourselves in. I could feel my anxiety building as Raj made one terrible decision after another. I often found myself wondering if I genuinely believed that I'd handle anything better if I were in such an awful position. Raj had a kind heart and his missteps seemed to come from places of insecurity rather than any malicious intent. I really lauded Raj's sense of self, ability to treat others kindly even when he was being mistreated, and propensity toward forgiveness.
The writing was excellent and the backstories Raj told provided authenticity and depth to his character. This was definitely 4.5 stars for me but I opted to round down because I wanted a little more from the story and it wrapped up a little too quickly for me. Race and race relations are such important topics and something we need to talk about more. The underlying messages and overall story were incredibly powerful. I especially loved that the story focused on an Indian, as I hadn't read a novel about racial tension and discrimination from that perspective previously. This is a must read!
Thank you to BookishFirst, Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
July 16, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed Member’s Only by Sameer Pandya. Brown, black and white America converge in this thought provoking novel told by a Bombay native who made his life and career on the west coast. The book covers a one week time span in the life of Raj Bhatt, an Indian-American man, married to a white woman with two young children. Raj is a professor at a local California university and he and his family belong to a private tennis club where he is on the membership committee. Written in first person, we are privy to Raj’s thoughts and emotions as we follow him during this grueling week.
The rollercoaster begins when Raj makes an off-color remark in response to a potential tennis club member of color at the membership meeting. This sets the ball rolling with the white members as they accuse him of being racist, demand he apologize and discuss revoking his membership. Then some of Raj’s college students interpret something he says in class as being anti-Christian and they publicly claim he is a reverse racist. On any normal week, the university and the tennis club both bring him joy and a sense of belonging, but with the way things are going, Raj grapples with how he is different, what behaviors are excusable, and where he really fits it.
With insight, humor, and highly nuanced dialog, Sameer Pandya gives us a glimpse into the middle ground between white and black America, the struggles surrounding what is accepted and how to feel and be treated as an equal based on varied shades of skin color. Raj is delightful, flawed and a wonderful character to go on this journey with. A quick read, very timely with much to think about and discuss, and I highly recommend it.
Full review and Author Q & A at Book Nation by Jen https://booknationbyjen.com.
The rollercoaster begins when Raj makes an off-color remark in response to a potential tennis club member of color at the membership meeting. This sets the ball rolling with the white members as they accuse him of being racist, demand he apologize and discuss revoking his membership. Then some of Raj’s college students interpret something he says in class as being anti-Christian and they publicly claim he is a reverse racist. On any normal week, the university and the tennis club both bring him joy and a sense of belonging, but with the way things are going, Raj grapples with how he is different, what behaviors are excusable, and where he really fits it.
With insight, humor, and highly nuanced dialog, Sameer Pandya gives us a glimpse into the middle ground between white and black America, the struggles surrounding what is accepted and how to feel and be treated as an equal based on varied shades of skin color. Raj is delightful, flawed and a wonderful character to go on this journey with. A quick read, very timely with much to think about and discuss, and I highly recommend it.
Full review and Author Q & A at Book Nation by Jen https://booknationbyjen.com.
August 29, 2020
This book is the leading 2020 contender for book I have read and loved that no one else will probably ever read 😅 Watch my full review here: https://youtu.be/TRVWBx4oLdI
June 26, 2021
The story is clever, current, and I enjoyed the topic very much.
Think of this story as people applying for membership to a private club. Potential members must be sponsored by existing members in good standing. There is an "interview" committee that meets with the sponsors and their requested guests. The protagonist, who is an elite professor born in in India and raised in California with a wife and two children sits on this committee.
In being a learned professor, one would assume he would have learned
to keep his mouth closed.
I now have given enough away before totally spoiling this review.
But, I must say that when reading this, I felt interrupted during each chapter with a personal story within the story which gives a history of why the protagonist reacts as he does.
I do recognize this is a style many authors use. Had this been a smooth read for me, I would have given a 5*** rating.
Think of this story as people applying for membership to a private club. Potential members must be sponsored by existing members in good standing. There is an "interview" committee that meets with the sponsors and their requested guests. The protagonist, who is an elite professor born in in India and raised in California with a wife and two children sits on this committee.
In being a learned professor, one would assume he would have learned
to keep his mouth closed.
I now have given enough away before totally spoiling this review.
But, I must say that when reading this, I felt interrupted during each chapter with a personal story within the story which gives a history of why the protagonist reacts as he does.
I do recognize this is a style many authors use. Had this been a smooth read for me, I would have given a 5*** rating.
March 3, 2020
When this book arrived in my basket with an invitation to take a look, I first glanced at the cover and noticed the tennis ball. Interesting. I play tennis. I quickly scan the back and see the main character works at a university. Interesting. Weird. So, do I. I tend to enjoy a book set on a university campus for obvious reasons, so it was all enough to tempt me to crack the cover. Just like those split second decisions we make based on first impressions, I thought I knew what the book was about, but the complexity below the surface was stunning and humbling. Dr. Raj and I could have made an instant connection over our commonalities as non-tenured lecturers and tennis players, but I could never fully understand his life as a man of color in today’s world. From the most subtle of microaggressions to the blatant isolationist and white-centric intentionally cruel comments, I will never experience the lonely feeling of otherness that accompanies Raj in his daily life. I believe this is Pandya’s point. On the surface, Raj seems to have all he needs with a lovely family and house, job security, and good network of colleagues and friends. Over the course of an exhausting week in his world, we learn how fragile all of these connections can be when you are different. We learn how unforgiving others can be when you make a mistake and how those little mistakes can begin to compound while you struggle to maintain your grace and composure when thrust unwillingly into an undeserved and harsh spotlight. The book ends with a realistic and satisfying conclusion leaving readers with much to chew and deliberate on. Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.
October 17, 2020
October 11, 2020: Members Only is an adult contemporary that spans over a week of tension and horror that starts by Raj, an Indian-American, saying something racist during an interview being conducted by a Black family and meant to include him in a Tennis Club that's too white.
There's a satirical undertone around the prevalent socio-political climate as well as social media's humongous effect on something done wrong, including the unwarranted responses to something posted after picking the most controversial bits, like one of Raj's philosophy lecture where he criticised America. It's a story that brings a relatable character to the pages in the way he's kind and good at heart but does make mistakes that are too high on the bar for some on social media and offended whites.
Note: While I did enjoy reading this story and appreciate the themes explored in the narration, I do want to make it very clear that the book doesn't capitalise the term 'black' as a cultural identity or race and that's not something I support so if you have a similar opinion on the capitalisation of the term, consider this piece of information before diving in.
May 3, 2020: This book can go so wrong if it isn't done right with the themes of racism but I'm quite positive especially since it sounds like a brave story. I received a digital copy of this via Netgalley! Thank you, Mariner Books (HMH).
There's a satirical undertone around the prevalent socio-political climate as well as social media's humongous effect on something done wrong, including the unwarranted responses to something posted after picking the most controversial bits, like one of Raj's philosophy lecture where he criticised America. It's a story that brings a relatable character to the pages in the way he's kind and good at heart but does make mistakes that are too high on the bar for some on social media and offended whites.
Note: While I did enjoy reading this story and appreciate the themes explored in the narration, I do want to make it very clear that the book doesn't capitalise the term 'black' as a cultural identity or race and that's not something I support so if you have a similar opinion on the capitalisation of the term, consider this piece of information before diving in.
May 3, 2020: This book can go so wrong if it isn't done right with the themes of racism but I'm quite positive especially since it sounds like a brave story. I received a digital copy of this via Netgalley! Thank you, Mariner Books (HMH).
July 10, 2020
I’m temporarily in a very white area. The only POC I see on a regular basis are the mailman and gardeners. Neighbors have spoken English LOUDLY and slooowlyyy to me. The other day, I saw a nonwhite couple jogging in my direction. My heart leaped. Do you live here? I wanted to ask. Is it weird for you too? I stared, tongue tied, and before I knew it they’d jogged past me and given me dirty looks. Wait! Come back! My gawping wasn’t meant to be hostile!
That’s a long-winded explanation of why I felt an instant connection to Raj Bhatt, an Indian American anthropology lecturer. His daily life is very white—white wife, white workplace, white Tennis Club (TC) where he’s the only POC on the membership committee—and now, in mid-life, he feels his difference quite keenly. Raj has a private plan “to darken the TC, which had only a handful of nonwhite members,” which is why he becomes very excited when an African American couple arrive for their membership interview. Raj becomes awkward in their presence, and in an attempt at kinship and connection, makes a joke that is wholly inappropriate and racist. Ugh, Raj!
Raj knows he messed up and must apologize. But the white TC members really turn on him, which only gets his back up. How about all the prejudice he’s endured for years, with no one speaking up for him? Now these fools have become antiracist experts? Pissed, Raj heads to work, unaware his life is going to get worse. Soon he’s all over the alt-right internet as the “anti-American professor [who] spews hatred of the West,” accused of “stereotyping Christians” and “reverse racism.” Branded a racist by both liberals and conservatives, where does Raj go from here?
I loved this book for delving into the fraught position of so-called model minorities in the US, the microaggressions they face—and also perpetuate. The first person POV submerges us deep into Raj’s psyche for a week. Numerous flashbacks within a chapter disrupt the narrative flow somewhat, though it’s smoother in the second half. A tense, fascinating exploration of brownness and belonging in America.
That’s a long-winded explanation of why I felt an instant connection to Raj Bhatt, an Indian American anthropology lecturer. His daily life is very white—white wife, white workplace, white Tennis Club (TC) where he’s the only POC on the membership committee—and now, in mid-life, he feels his difference quite keenly. Raj has a private plan “to darken the TC, which had only a handful of nonwhite members,” which is why he becomes very excited when an African American couple arrive for their membership interview. Raj becomes awkward in their presence, and in an attempt at kinship and connection, makes a joke that is wholly inappropriate and racist. Ugh, Raj!
Raj knows he messed up and must apologize. But the white TC members really turn on him, which only gets his back up. How about all the prejudice he’s endured for years, with no one speaking up for him? Now these fools have become antiracist experts? Pissed, Raj heads to work, unaware his life is going to get worse. Soon he’s all over the alt-right internet as the “anti-American professor [who] spews hatred of the West,” accused of “stereotyping Christians” and “reverse racism.” Branded a racist by both liberals and conservatives, where does Raj go from here?
I loved this book for delving into the fraught position of so-called model minorities in the US, the microaggressions they face—and also perpetuate. The first person POV submerges us deep into Raj’s psyche for a week. Numerous flashbacks within a chapter disrupt the narrative flow somewhat, though it’s smoother in the second half. A tense, fascinating exploration of brownness and belonging in America.
April 3, 2020
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 horrible 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 a similar situation that you've created. 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 a similar situation that you've created. 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.
September 11, 2020
DNF at 16%
I’m sure it was written well, and had important things to say. But I just hated the concept, the main character, the situation proposed and untangled in this book.
I had no sympathy for the character. He’s a 40 something year old Indian American man who is an elite professor with a white wife, both of whom eagerly try and ingratiate themselves within extremely white institutions (i.e. this fancy tennis club). He laments the “lack of diversity”, but... he CHOSE to spend his free time in a gated, white community. So when a Black couple comes to the tennis club and he woefully tries to show “solidarity” by saying the n-word “as a joke”, I just wanted to melt and evaporate simultaneously.
I just... he’s 40. He grew up in a school with white and Black folks. He was racialized as a kid (I think?), but also chose to counter his racialization with prompt and swift assimilation into whiteness. As stated, he has spent his adult life trying to be a part of white institutions. And he’s 40. Then he decides “boohoo I’m racialized like Black people in this fancy white tennis club, so I’m going to show our inherent connection by saying the n-word!!” To put it colloquially, I’m literally screaming at this.
This would’ve been a MUCH better novel if the main character was a dark-skinned Indian American between 12-16 years old, and stuck somewhere between America’s white and Black binary and not understanding how he fits and as a result may take on language that does not belong to him. While still wrong and not okay, from the perspective of a 12-16 year old, it is contextualized around a failed understanding of racial belonging at an age where it can be really confusing, esp when faced with racism. But exploring how that confusion can inadvertently cause harm to others (by using racial language that doesn’t belong to him). THAT psychology and circumstance are much more nuanced to explore.
But this main character is fucking 40 years. I don’t really care what this author has to say about being stuck being ~white and Black~. He’s 40. Not a confused child. If there are real people like this main character, someone has to help them ASAP, but I don’t need to read long novels about it in my free time.
I’m sure it was written well, and had important things to say. But I just hated the concept, the main character, the situation proposed and untangled in this book.
I had no sympathy for the character. He’s a 40 something year old Indian American man who is an elite professor with a white wife, both of whom eagerly try and ingratiate themselves within extremely white institutions (i.e. this fancy tennis club). He laments the “lack of diversity”, but... he CHOSE to spend his free time in a gated, white community. So when a Black couple comes to the tennis club and he woefully tries to show “solidarity” by saying the n-word “as a joke”, I just wanted to melt and evaporate simultaneously.
I just... he’s 40. He grew up in a school with white and Black folks. He was racialized as a kid (I think?), but also chose to counter his racialization with prompt and swift assimilation into whiteness. As stated, he has spent his adult life trying to be a part of white institutions. And he’s 40. Then he decides “boohoo I’m racialized like Black people in this fancy white tennis club, so I’m going to show our inherent connection by saying the n-word!!” To put it colloquially, I’m literally screaming at this.
This would’ve been a MUCH better novel if the main character was a dark-skinned Indian American between 12-16 years old, and stuck somewhere between America’s white and Black binary and not understanding how he fits and as a result may take on language that does not belong to him. While still wrong and not okay, from the perspective of a 12-16 year old, it is contextualized around a failed understanding of racial belonging at an age where it can be really confusing, esp when faced with racism. But exploring how that confusion can inadvertently cause harm to others (by using racial language that doesn’t belong to him). THAT psychology and circumstance are much more nuanced to explore.
But this main character is fucking 40 years. I don’t really care what this author has to say about being stuck being ~white and Black~. He’s 40. Not a confused child. If there are real people like this main character, someone has to help them ASAP, but I don’t need to read long novels about it in my free time.
July 7, 2020
First, thank you Houghton for a free review e-copy.
THIS BOOK!! This one caught me by surprise, and I’m in awe.
MEMBERS ONLY is a fascinating character study about invisibility and the impact of racism and micro-aggressions. Our protagonist, Raj, is an awkward, insecure, Indian-American anthro professor at a California university. White wife, 2 kids, and a membership at an all-white tennis club. While it’s not the life he envisioned, he’s enjoying the luxuries his success can afford.
The plot centers around two events. One where Raj makes a terrible, racist joke to a potential new member at his tennis club. And the other where his white students decry him a reverse racist after a lecture on colonialism. He’s determined to take responsibility for the joke, because he knows he screwed up, but he has to deal with his white committee members who decide this is the moment they’re going to flex their anti-racist skills. (Ha!) And at the same time, he’s trying to ward off his angry students and save his job.
Pandya does a phenomenal job exploring racism and micro-aggressions in everyday life, especially as seen from someone that falls into the model minority bucket. I felt so much of Raj’s pain and frustration. The innate exhaustion of the daily grind.
And taking it a step further, MEMBERS ONLY gives us a glimpse into how otherness and invisibility transcends the American experience. Through reflections on past trips to India, we see how Indian culture can also leave you caught between spaces, these ones defined by religion and caste.
I LOVE that Pandya slips in this connection. To me, the societal structures in India and America have a lot in common, even if made up of completely different histories. Because while America is dealing with the legacy of slavery, India is dealing with the legacy of British colonialism and casteism. And there are similarities in how this plays out culturally and societally.
I 100% recommend this book. The storytelling and pacing is gripping. I loved getting lost in Raj’s world, even with the cringe-worthy moments, lol. And that white fragility, oof.
READ THIS BOOK!
THIS BOOK!! This one caught me by surprise, and I’m in awe.
MEMBERS ONLY is a fascinating character study about invisibility and the impact of racism and micro-aggressions. Our protagonist, Raj, is an awkward, insecure, Indian-American anthro professor at a California university. White wife, 2 kids, and a membership at an all-white tennis club. While it’s not the life he envisioned, he’s enjoying the luxuries his success can afford.
The plot centers around two events. One where Raj makes a terrible, racist joke to a potential new member at his tennis club. And the other where his white students decry him a reverse racist after a lecture on colonialism. He’s determined to take responsibility for the joke, because he knows he screwed up, but he has to deal with his white committee members who decide this is the moment they’re going to flex their anti-racist skills. (Ha!) And at the same time, he’s trying to ward off his angry students and save his job.
Pandya does a phenomenal job exploring racism and micro-aggressions in everyday life, especially as seen from someone that falls into the model minority bucket. I felt so much of Raj’s pain and frustration. The innate exhaustion of the daily grind.
And taking it a step further, MEMBERS ONLY gives us a glimpse into how otherness and invisibility transcends the American experience. Through reflections on past trips to India, we see how Indian culture can also leave you caught between spaces, these ones defined by religion and caste.
I LOVE that Pandya slips in this connection. To me, the societal structures in India and America have a lot in common, even if made up of completely different histories. Because while America is dealing with the legacy of slavery, India is dealing with the legacy of British colonialism and casteism. And there are similarities in how this plays out culturally and societally.
I 100% recommend this book. The storytelling and pacing is gripping. I loved getting lost in Raj’s world, even with the cringe-worthy moments, lol. And that white fragility, oof.
READ THIS BOOK!
July 12, 2020
This novel made me so anxious--in a good way--that I finished the whole thing in one lazy Sunday sitting. I love a college novel, which this partially is, and it couldn't be better timed for this moment of tricky and complex conversations about race in America.
September 28, 2020
(4.5) Who would think a soliloquy that reflects our inner and outer lives in current society would make for a such a great novel?? And how did this miss being on more summer reading lists??
Yes, I could marry this writer.
Yes, I could marry this writer.
Read
May 9, 2021This is a book that rightly bills itself as the story of people living on the margins of a white and Black world. And I think, for the most part, it is successful at telling that story.
In so many ways, I am Raj. And a lot of us are Raj living in America. We're definitely Not White and that is made painfully clear by existing within all-white spaces, and feeling out of place, and feeling like you don't belong, and feeling the microaggressions and outright racism and feeling Othered. But to be clear, we are also Not Black and many of us are also hugely imperfect allies and feel like we don't need to do the work to be allies because we just should be by virtue of being Not White. Lots of people exist in that space where we are both victims of racism while also being perpetrators and benefactors of anti-Black racism.
So when Raj's inner monologue jumps and becomes excited at the prospect of a Black couple entering his social circle, I get it. It's a different type of stereotyping, and there's really no right way to parse through your thoughts in a way that aren't pandering. He wants his circle to be less white. He wants more melanin, he wants to be part of the solution, he wants friends he can discuss the lived experience of racism with. Is it racist that he wants specifically Black friends, without even knowing their characters? I mean kind of yes but also kind of no. Living in all-white spheres is so suffocating that we desperately want someone else of color to validate our experiences.
But what Raj did was so bad I literally gasped while reading.
The book asks a really interesting question-- because suddenly this all-white country club turns against the one person of color in the club .... because he said something racist. Raj, of course, is incensed. Who are these white people to tell him he's racist? Why is he, a brown man, the scapegoat for the lilywhite racism that has pervaded this country club for generations? How do they not see the racism of accusing him of racism??
And that's a great question to untangle.
There are a few things that don't quite work in the book. The secondary plot, of Raj being accused of being anti-white for his academic lectures, is interesting and important to furthering the themes of the book (what is racism? who defines racism? what role does power play in racism?), but I think more could have been teased out from it, with potentially more interesting consequences.
Also, the Black couple in the end were ........ well, let's just say the ending was tied up too nicely. I think the argument could be made that the Black couple were barely even characters and are really more of MacGuffins in a way that is problematic, and it's true that this is not their story, but given how we saw other side characters have more fleshed out stories, the cutout characterization felt a bit like taking the easy route.
And finally, Raj himself was just a bit too insecure. I don't necessarily have problems with insecure characters, but Raj sometimes made weird decisions and seemed so immature it was off-putting at moments. He projected so much onto other characters, he seemed to viewed them all strictly with imagined monologues or he would like them only based on how much they liked him personally, but I think this could've worked better if that had grown and shifted over the course of the novel. You know, if he had learned something from it. Did Raj really grow, or did he just overcome a difficult week?
I am really glad I read this, I think it raises important questions, it's an easy read, and it would be very fun to discuss in a book club!
In so many ways, I am Raj. And a lot of us are Raj living in America. We're definitely Not White and that is made painfully clear by existing within all-white spaces, and feeling out of place, and feeling like you don't belong, and feeling the microaggressions and outright racism and feeling Othered. But to be clear, we are also Not Black and many of us are also hugely imperfect allies and feel like we don't need to do the work to be allies because we just should be by virtue of being Not White. Lots of people exist in that space where we are both victims of racism while also being perpetrators and benefactors of anti-Black racism.
So when Raj's inner monologue jumps and becomes excited at the prospect of a Black couple entering his social circle, I get it. It's a different type of stereotyping, and there's really no right way to parse through your thoughts in a way that aren't pandering. He wants his circle to be less white. He wants more melanin, he wants to be part of the solution, he wants friends he can discuss the lived experience of racism with. Is it racist that he wants specifically Black friends, without even knowing their characters? I mean kind of yes but also kind of no. Living in all-white spheres is so suffocating that we desperately want someone else of color to validate our experiences.
But what Raj did was so bad I literally gasped while reading.
The book asks a really interesting question-- because suddenly this all-white country club turns against the one person of color in the club .... because he said something racist. Raj, of course, is incensed. Who are these white people to tell him he's racist? Why is he, a brown man, the scapegoat for the lilywhite racism that has pervaded this country club for generations? How do they not see the racism of accusing him of racism??
And that's a great question to untangle.
There are a few things that don't quite work in the book. The secondary plot, of Raj being accused of being anti-white for his academic lectures, is interesting and important to furthering the themes of the book (what is racism? who defines racism? what role does power play in racism?), but I think more could have been teased out from it, with potentially more interesting consequences.
Also, the Black couple in the end were ........ well, let's just say the ending was tied up too nicely. I think the argument could be made that the Black couple were barely even characters and are really more of MacGuffins in a way that is problematic, and it's true that this is not their story, but given how we saw other side characters have more fleshed out stories, the cutout characterization felt a bit like taking the easy route.
And finally, Raj himself was just a bit too insecure. I don't necessarily have problems with insecure characters, but Raj sometimes made weird decisions and seemed so immature it was off-putting at moments. He projected so much onto other characters, he seemed to viewed them all strictly with imagined monologues or he would like them only based on how much they liked him personally, but I think this could've worked better if that had grown and shifted over the course of the novel. You know, if he had learned something from it. Did Raj really grow, or did he just overcome a difficult week?
I am really glad I read this, I think it raises important questions, it's an easy read, and it would be very fun to discuss in a book club!
September 4, 2020
Excellent. Like if Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day were about an educated, overthinking yet impulsive adult in 2020 and things that actually mattered.
August 12, 2020
An interesting story about Raj, an Indian-American, who blurts out a racist comment at his tennis club. From there, the story takes off.
August 2, 2020
Thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing an ARC!
_____________
From the beginning of this book, even from the synopsis, I knew I would feel embarrassed by what was going to happen to Raj, the narrator. I was right.
Raj, on a Sunday evening, makes a terrible racist joke, and it will be the start of one of the worst weeks of his life. From ordinary racism to debasement, from silent judgemental stares to insults, the situation will escalate until it can't anymore.
I felt embarrassment when the joke happens. I can totally understand why Raj wants to melt, to disappear, or to go back in time to unsay it. And I also get his awkwardness, his need to connect, and his failing to do so. I ached for him, and it got worse. As I was progressing, I felt indignation. Raj lives in the United States since he is 8, he is a university professor now, studying anthropology, he goes to a TC and still, people are belittling him, ignoring him, or even straight up insulting him, making him feel like he doesn’t belong. Because he is brown and born in another country. He feels different and he feels like he is used sometimes to prove that there is diversity in a place, like the TC or university. He is wondering if what he feels is real or just him being paranoid; as we progress in the book, we know it’s real.
The worst, maybe, is that he gets attacked for two different reasons, both involving a form of racism: And Raj’s life goes down really quickly: in a matter of days, nothing feels the same. Cyberviolence is portrayed here: how people don’t realise how hurtful they can be, how easy it is for them to trash someone who’s not in front of them - or someone they don’t even know in person! -, to use offensive words and to threat someone’s career, even his very life. And how people looooooooove to speak about subjects they know nothing about, be they general or personal to people around them. Infuriating.
I loved this book for bringing this talk to the forefront. I also loved being in Raj’s head and him explaining what he feels, how he feels, and why he is in such a situation. He gives us snippets of his past, of what he lived through, of how he got where he is now, of the envy he feels sometimes when he sees white people being idiots or less deserving succeeding when he stagnates or gets thrown back because of his skin colour - Plus, I also loved that he is a teacher!
About the ending:
While reading this book, I wanted to shake people and to open their eyes wide, let them see all the problematic things they’re doing, seeing, listening to without reacting. Hope it has the same effect on every reader.
_____________
From the beginning of this book, even from the synopsis, I knew I would feel embarrassed by what was going to happen to Raj, the narrator. I was right.
Raj, on a Sunday evening, makes a terrible racist joke, and it will be the start of one of the worst weeks of his life. From ordinary racism to debasement, from silent judgemental stares to insults, the situation will escalate until it can't anymore.
I felt embarrassment when the joke happens. I can totally understand why Raj wants to melt, to disappear, or to go back in time to unsay it. And I also get his awkwardness, his need to connect, and his failing to do so. I ached for him, and it got worse. As I was progressing, I felt indignation. Raj lives in the United States since he is 8, he is a university professor now, studying anthropology, he goes to a TC and still, people are belittling him, ignoring him, or even straight up insulting him, making him feel like he doesn’t belong. Because he is brown and born in another country. He feels different and he feels like he is used sometimes to prove that there is diversity in a place, like the TC or university. He is wondering if what he feels is real or just him being paranoid; as we progress in the book, we know it’s real.
The worst, maybe, is that he gets attacked for two different reasons, both involving a form of racism: And Raj’s life goes down really quickly: in a matter of days, nothing feels the same. Cyberviolence is portrayed here: how people don’t realise how hurtful they can be, how easy it is for them to trash someone who’s not in front of them - or someone they don’t even know in person! -, to use offensive words and to threat someone’s career, even his very life. And how people looooooooove to speak about subjects they know nothing about, be they general or personal to people around them. Infuriating.
I loved this book for bringing this talk to the forefront. I also loved being in Raj’s head and him explaining what he feels, how he feels, and why he is in such a situation. He gives us snippets of his past, of what he lived through, of how he got where he is now, of the envy he feels sometimes when he sees white people being idiots or less deserving succeeding when he stagnates or gets thrown back because of his skin colour - Plus, I also loved that he is a teacher!
About the ending:
While reading this book, I wanted to shake people and to open their eyes wide, let them see all the problematic things they’re doing, seeing, listening to without reacting. Hope it has the same effect on every reader.
June 14, 2020
Professor Raj Bhatt is having a terrible week. He’s made an offensive comment to a prospective member of his tennis club, students from his Anthropology class are protesting remarks he made in class, and his son is in trouble at school. Raj has all the credentials to be accepted in elite circles: an Ivy League doctorate, a professorship, and a white wife. He’s also a member of an exclusive tennis club, a place where his wife grew up and a place he and his kids already love. But Raj didn’t grow up with the elite. His grandparents did well in Bombay, but when Raj’s mother and father moved the family to the United States, they had to start over. As an immigrant, he’s aware of the subtle and not-so-subtle slights towards him and other minorities in professional and social circles.
So to be accused of reverse racism on several fronts shakes Raj to the point of collapse. How can he make people see he’s been misunderstood?
It starts with the offensive comment. Raj was merely excited that people of color were being considered for membership and blurts out the worst possible thing. The membership committee is outraged and embarrassed and the prospective black couple, a prominent cardiologist and trauma surgeon, rush out before Raj can apologize.
What’s at the core of this scene and others in Pandya’s debut novel is the bundle of complex issues of racial and religious discrimination, class distinction, feeling inadequate and being an outsider. It’s ironic for Raj because, as an anthropologist, he chose his profession to understand human societies and cultures.
I had done it because I loved the idea of talking to people and trying to understand them, to see how different they were. And perhaps, if I dug far enough into their lives and histories, I could discover how similar they were too,” he says.
I enjoyed this fast-moving and very readable story. Raj’s character is well developed and wonderfully human, a reflection of how complicated prejudices and misconceptions can be. Pandya places these problems in the middle of a contemporary marriage, where pressures to have it all and maintain an image can distort what it means to be happy.
Members Only tackles difficult and modern problems, ones that its characters seem unlikely to entirely resolve. But the story is also full of compassion, forgiveness, hope and several touching scenes. I recommend this book to readers who like stories with realistic characters who make mistakes, but who are good people underneath.
So to be accused of reverse racism on several fronts shakes Raj to the point of collapse. How can he make people see he’s been misunderstood?
It starts with the offensive comment. Raj was merely excited that people of color were being considered for membership and blurts out the worst possible thing. The membership committee is outraged and embarrassed and the prospective black couple, a prominent cardiologist and trauma surgeon, rush out before Raj can apologize.
What’s at the core of this scene and others in Pandya’s debut novel is the bundle of complex issues of racial and religious discrimination, class distinction, feeling inadequate and being an outsider. It’s ironic for Raj because, as an anthropologist, he chose his profession to understand human societies and cultures.
I had done it because I loved the idea of talking to people and trying to understand them, to see how different they were. And perhaps, if I dug far enough into their lives and histories, I could discover how similar they were too,” he says.
I enjoyed this fast-moving and very readable story. Raj’s character is well developed and wonderfully human, a reflection of how complicated prejudices and misconceptions can be. Pandya places these problems in the middle of a contemporary marriage, where pressures to have it all and maintain an image can distort what it means to be happy.
Members Only tackles difficult and modern problems, ones that its characters seem unlikely to entirely resolve. But the story is also full of compassion, forgiveness, hope and several touching scenes. I recommend this book to readers who like stories with realistic characters who make mistakes, but who are good people underneath.
November 5, 2020
3.5 rounded up.
When an extremely successful Black couple apply for membership at an elite, basically White tennis club, Raj accidentally uses the n-word in a joke. This sets off a downward spiral of misfortunes, as some tennis club members call for his removal from the board, and Raj reflects on the many, many instances of racism he's faced as the only Indian in the club. Meanwhile, he separately elicits the fury of conservative White Christian students at the college where he's an anthropology professor.
This one reminds me of Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu - not at all in writing style, but in the sense that the book grapples with how Asians relate to Whites & Blacks in America, at the expense of the story. The climax and ending to this week from hell is quite ridiculous, but even though the monologues are unrealistic and (in my personal opinion) the protagonist is unlikeable, Pandya makes very good points throughout the book.
When an extremely successful Black couple apply for membership at an elite, basically White tennis club, Raj accidentally uses the n-word in a joke. This sets off a downward spiral of misfortunes, as some tennis club members call for his removal from the board, and Raj reflects on the many, many instances of racism he's faced as the only Indian in the club. Meanwhile, he separately elicits the fury of conservative White Christian students at the college where he's an anthropology professor.
This one reminds me of Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu - not at all in writing style, but in the sense that the book grapples with how Asians relate to Whites & Blacks in America, at the expense of the story. The climax and ending to this week from hell is quite ridiculous, but even though the monologues are unrealistic and (in my personal opinion) the protagonist is unlikeable, Pandya makes very good points throughout the book.
May 21, 2020
MEMBERS ONLY follows Raj Bhatt, an Indian man living in the United States with his wife and family. While interviewing new couples for the tennis club they’re a part of, Raj makes a racist joke in an attempt to connect. Later in the later week, some of Raj’s college students accuse him of reverse racism.
Sameer Pandaya has done a wonderful job exploring the everyday racism that exists in our lives. I found Raj to be a very likable main character, and that made it even more painful as I watched his story unfold.
It was so frustrating to see (mainly white) people constantly discriminate against Raj, while also wildly condemning him for his small errors. I have thought a lot about this novel since putting it down, and I highly recommend it. MEMBERS ONLY does an expert job at examining this complicated topic. I think it will be especially enlightening to white readers like myself, as it made it so painfully obvious how each small act microaggression combined creates a much larger problem. I highly encourage you to read this novel! (4.5 stars rounded up)
Sameer Pandaya has done a wonderful job exploring the everyday racism that exists in our lives. I found Raj to be a very likable main character, and that made it even more painful as I watched his story unfold.
It was so frustrating to see (mainly white) people constantly discriminate against Raj, while also wildly condemning him for his small errors. I have thought a lot about this novel since putting it down, and I highly recommend it. MEMBERS ONLY does an expert job at examining this complicated topic. I think it will be especially enlightening to white readers like myself, as it made it so painfully obvious how each small act microaggression combined creates a much larger problem. I highly encourage you to read this novel! (4.5 stars rounded up)
October 14, 2020
Raj belongs to an exclusive country club where he as a Bangladeshi American. Everyone else is White. An African American couple apply to join and Raj is so excited he tries to be overly friendly with them and uses the n word. The Whites are horrified and worry about liability. They demand he resign after the interview is over. As an academic he is terrified. A Conservative organization accuses him of being a reverse racist. Interesting story.
July 14, 2020
The beginning of this book was hard to take, but hang in there as it is worth the read. Very timely given the accusation of racism from very different perspectives. The main character will make you cringe, but lovable all the same.
January 3, 2021
This narrative of a week in Prof. Raj Bhatt's life reflects on the ways in which conservatism and liberalism play off of each other in the US, often dictating that attempts at racial equity rarely go beyond self-serving tokenism. The discomfort that often follows brown people navigating liberal spaces in America is handled with humor and simplicity, successfully avoiding coming across as trite about the subject matter. While Pandya's prose does not flow on to the page, his writing style is suited to the story he is trying to tell. The brown (especially Asian Indian) experience is a misfit in racial discussions primarily centered around black and white frameworks, since it is complicated by the relative privilege of the circumstances of migration. This privilege does not however grant the brown body immunity from white microaggressions, well-meaning liberal insensitivity or racial horizontal hostility. If this last sentence does not make any sense to you, it will once you read this book. Rarely discussed by popular media, the Catch-22 situations that the protagonist finds himself in is something that almost every Indian immigrant to the US has experienced but rarely has the space or vocabulary to talk about.
July 14, 2021
Highly recommend. I loved the blend of campus novel, immigrant story and exploration of racism. The “week in the life” structure was balanced well with a compelling plot, which I feel “slice of life” novels often lack. This would be a great book club book!
March 15, 2023
I've read about fifteen books so far this year, and this was the novel that I gulped down the easiest, like drinking cool water. It's a funny story about important topics, and Pandya writes in smooth, confident prose with real heart.
Raj Bhatt is a professor of anthropology at a California university having a very bad week. At a meeting for potential new members at his beloved tennis club, he drinks too much wine and makes a racist joke and then at work, students take his lecture remarks out of context and portray him as an anti-Christian crusader. Everything escalates. As his life unravels, Raj evolves from being too squeamish to kill a rattlesnake (his wife has to do it for him, to protect their kids) to arming himself with a rifle to defend his family against attackers. But in the end, without giving too much away, he finds that being vulnerable, honest, and expressive are the keys to ameliorating his predicament.
Raj Bhatt is a professor of anthropology at a California university having a very bad week. At a meeting for potential new members at his beloved tennis club, he drinks too much wine and makes a racist joke and then at work, students take his lecture remarks out of context and portray him as an anti-Christian crusader. Everything escalates. As his life unravels, Raj evolves from being too squeamish to kill a rattlesnake (his wife has to do it for him, to protect their kids) to arming himself with a rifle to defend his family against attackers. But in the end, without giving too much away, he finds that being vulnerable, honest, and expressive are the keys to ameliorating his predicament.
October 17, 2025
5 stars, CRAZY, I know!
This book is benefiting from grade inflation for 2 reasons:
1. It’s my first male author in a very long time so the bar was low
2. It’s my first book since Q1 of this year so I forgot the joys of reading
… it did the job of reminding me that reading a good story is fun and books can be both serious and silly. This one’s silly and my next (and most of those after that) will be serious. A refreshing break from the heartbreak I usually inflict upon myself with my book choice (re; pachinko, thousand splendid suns, martyr, etc).
This book is benefiting from grade inflation for 2 reasons:
1. It’s my first male author in a very long time so the bar was low
2. It’s my first book since Q1 of this year so I forgot the joys of reading
… it did the job of reminding me that reading a good story is fun and books can be both serious and silly. This one’s silly and my next (and most of those after that) will be serious. A refreshing break from the heartbreak I usually inflict upon myself with my book choice (re; pachinko, thousand splendid suns, martyr, etc).
June 1, 2023
4.75 stars or 5 stars still thinking about it.
PART I: The Part Where I Paraphrase Excerpts from 'A Conversation with the Author'
Members Only depicts a series of events and comical inner thoughts of the main character, Rajesh Bhat, "who exists in the brown space between white and black." Specifically the white and black racial issues that are often discussed in America because of its blood stained, inhumane past. Sameer Pandya describes this metaphorical brown space as "a space of passing in particular instances" and "of not fully belonging in others."
One of Pandya's favorite lines is said near the outset when someone says he knew a Raj in college. And Raj thinks to himself, “Everyone knew a Raj in college.”
Pandya combines "traditional college campus, midlife crisis and immigrant (albeit modified and modernized) storylines to "flesh out the Raj everyone knew, or, for that matter, didn’t know" in college; "to give him a past, a present, and a deep inner life with wants, desires and failings; to make him human."
PART II: The Part Where I Implore You to Read this Book
Four star ratings are quite rare for me; I don't think I've given a book 5 stars in years. I have this spidey feeling that I was still a child when I gave books 5 stars in the past, many of them dystopian books seemingly mass produced during 2010's ish era, well before I learned to read critically and have words for the literary techniques that stood out to me.
I've never been one of those people who feels like they have to read books by people of a certain culture or gender during certain months. I mostly use the articles I find recommending books during these annual monthly commemorations to find new books to read because I don't want to read a book by someone of a culture different from mine for a month, I want to read books like that all the time. A month is quite plainly insufficient. However if you are looking for books to read during Asian American and Pacific Islanders' month, please pick up this one!
PART III: The Part Where I explain Why This Lost 0.25 Stars
In part of the novel Raj talks about how listening to hip hop felt like a revolution. I admit I could have misread this, but there seemed to be "cool characteristics" ascribed specifically to listening to hip hop and rap by black artists who were popular in the 80's.
As a black American made by immigrant parents, this made me cringe a bit because there's a clear, decades (maybe even centuries) long trend of aspects of black culture (music, hairstyles, apparel) being "cool" or acceptable, but not black people. Black people were not approached with the same openness, respect, and kindness as the things they produced. I'm not claiming Pandya feels this way and I don't believe he intended for Raj to come off this way either. This of course being one of the rare books where an Indian American is the main character - not the background character with no lines or the friend with 2 lines TV and movie producers include to diversify the cast - so I'm not sure this book is the kind of space where this distinction should be pointed out, but I wonder if the author is aware of this issue. Maybe it's something other cultures experience too that I don't have insight on.
Ultimately...
I learned a lot from Raj about what the world looks like through someone else's eyes. What I admire about Raj is even though he was bullied by people of other races, he didn't let those experiences color (ha an unintentional pun!) his view of that entire race or ethnicity. He tried to be understanding of people from different backgrounds even though he was never given the same consideration. I wish more people irl had this quality.
PART I: The Part Where I Paraphrase Excerpts from 'A Conversation with the Author'
Members Only depicts a series of events and comical inner thoughts of the main character, Rajesh Bhat, "who exists in the brown space between white and black." Specifically the white and black racial issues that are often discussed in America because of its blood stained, inhumane past. Sameer Pandya describes this metaphorical brown space as "a space of passing in particular instances" and "of not fully belonging in others."
One of Pandya's favorite lines is said near the outset when someone says he knew a Raj in college. And Raj thinks to himself, “Everyone knew a Raj in college.”
Pandya combines "traditional college campus, midlife crisis and immigrant (albeit modified and modernized) storylines to "flesh out the Raj everyone knew, or, for that matter, didn’t know" in college; "to give him a past, a present, and a deep inner life with wants, desires and failings; to make him human."
PART II: The Part Where I Implore You to Read this Book
Four star ratings are quite rare for me; I don't think I've given a book 5 stars in years. I have this spidey feeling that I was still a child when I gave books 5 stars in the past, many of them dystopian books seemingly mass produced during 2010's ish era, well before I learned to read critically and have words for the literary techniques that stood out to me.
I've never been one of those people who feels like they have to read books by people of a certain culture or gender during certain months. I mostly use the articles I find recommending books during these annual monthly commemorations to find new books to read because I don't want to read a book by someone of a culture different from mine for a month, I want to read books like that all the time. A month is quite plainly insufficient. However if you are looking for books to read during Asian American and Pacific Islanders' month, please pick up this one!
PART III: The Part Where I explain Why This Lost 0.25 Stars
In part of the novel Raj talks about how listening to hip hop felt like a revolution. I admit I could have misread this, but there seemed to be "cool characteristics" ascribed specifically to listening to hip hop and rap by black artists who were popular in the 80's.
As a black American made by immigrant parents, this made me cringe a bit because there's a clear, decades (maybe even centuries) long trend of aspects of black culture (music, hairstyles, apparel) being "cool" or acceptable, but not black people. Black people were not approached with the same openness, respect, and kindness as the things they produced. I'm not claiming Pandya feels this way and I don't believe he intended for Raj to come off this way either. This of course being one of the rare books where an Indian American is the main character - not the background character with no lines or the friend with 2 lines TV and movie producers include to diversify the cast - so I'm not sure this book is the kind of space where this distinction should be pointed out, but I wonder if the author is aware of this issue. Maybe it's something other cultures experience too that I don't have insight on.
Ultimately...
I learned a lot from Raj about what the world looks like through someone else's eyes. What I admire about Raj is even though he was bullied by people of other races, he didn't let those experiences color (ha an unintentional pun!) his view of that entire race or ethnicity. He tried to be understanding of people from different backgrounds even though he was never given the same consideration. I wish more people irl had this quality.
May 9, 2020
[4,5/5 stars]
In MEMBERS ONLY, Raj Bhatt is an Indian man born in Bombay that moved to America when he was eight. Now middle-aged, he is an Anthropology professor at a university in California. His wife Eva is a white woman born and raised on the West Coast. After they move back to California, they join the tennis club that Eva used to go. In one week, at a committee meeting for potential new members, in an effort to connect with an African American couple, he makes a racist joke. Later in the week, his job is in jeopardy after a group of his college students accuse him of being reverse racist.
This book is mind-blowing good - Raj's dream of a more diverse club and his desire to find the sense of belonging were so realistic and sadly true. Pandya does a fantastic job of portraying Raj's struggles to find his place in life and in the community, a harsh reality of an immigrant/ non-white person. I sympathized with Raj's frustration with people's microaggressions and the succession of unpleasant events, while he was heavily criticized and even "condemned" for his errors. The discrepancy between these responses is infuriating and the author invites us to take a profound look into the racism.
With such a craft, Pandya weaves in ideas of racism, identity, bullying, immigration, parental responsibility and religion, challenging us to better understand different cultures and broaden our perspectives. Furthermore, I loved the passages about Indian culture and I found them very absorbing. MEMBERS ONLY offered me a thought-provoking reading experience and it is a character-driven novel that I highly recommend.
[ I received an ARC from BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review ]
In MEMBERS ONLY, Raj Bhatt is an Indian man born in Bombay that moved to America when he was eight. Now middle-aged, he is an Anthropology professor at a university in California. His wife Eva is a white woman born and raised on the West Coast. After they move back to California, they join the tennis club that Eva used to go. In one week, at a committee meeting for potential new members, in an effort to connect with an African American couple, he makes a racist joke. Later in the week, his job is in jeopardy after a group of his college students accuse him of being reverse racist.
This book is mind-blowing good - Raj's dream of a more diverse club and his desire to find the sense of belonging were so realistic and sadly true. Pandya does a fantastic job of portraying Raj's struggles to find his place in life and in the community, a harsh reality of an immigrant/ non-white person. I sympathized with Raj's frustration with people's microaggressions and the succession of unpleasant events, while he was heavily criticized and even "condemned" for his errors. The discrepancy between these responses is infuriating and the author invites us to take a profound look into the racism.
With such a craft, Pandya weaves in ideas of racism, identity, bullying, immigration, parental responsibility and religion, challenging us to better understand different cultures and broaden our perspectives. Furthermore, I loved the passages about Indian culture and I found them very absorbing. MEMBERS ONLY offered me a thought-provoking reading experience and it is a character-driven novel that I highly recommend.
[ I received an ARC from BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review ]
March 19, 2020
Raj Bhatt was raised in Bombay until he was 8 and moved to NYC. He learned early on that the brown color of his skin set him apart from the rest of the populace. But in India, his religion was also a precursor for the way he was treated. Eventually, Raj and his white wife join a California tennis club in the same town where he is a college professor. At a tennis club membership meeting, Raj makes one flippant remark about a potential black couple joining the club and it starts a disastrous week where he is considered at once racist and then reverse racist. That’s not a great predicament when you simply want to belong and ensure your kids have a place in the future community. Expected to accept people’s subtle racist tendencies on an almost daily basis, yet immediately judged when he makes one mistake, Raj decisions weigh heavily on his mind and his ability to work highlighting the fact that Raj lives in a world in-between acceptance and outright prejudice. It’s not a fun place in which to reside. He just wants to belong. Members Only was witty, insightful, and enlightened story that managed to avoid being heavy-handed. I loved it. Thanks to author Sameer Pandya for this sweet story. Thanks to @bookishfirst and @houghtonmifflinharcourt for the advanced reader copy. Read this one which has a publication date of May 12, 2020. As always the thoughts and reviews are my own and without bias. Can’t we all just get along? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #membersonly #book #race @sameerpandya524 #anthropology
July 12, 2020
Interesting book about race and racism. Raj makes a racist joke at a party, yikes, and then has to deal with the fallout. This is a thoughtful exploration of race in America. Very timely. A little slow, but still mostly held my interest.
February 2, 2021
The book started and ended well. Just got slow for me in the middle and thought it went off on too many tangents. Good message though.
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