Coconut Unlimited

by Nikesh Shukla

It's Harrow in the 1990s, and Amit, Anand and Nishant are stuck. Their peers think they're a bunch of try-hard 'darkies', acting street and pretending to be cool, while their community thinks they're rich toffs, a long way from the 'real' Asians in Southall. So, to keep it real, they form legendary hip-hop band 'Coconut Unlimited'. Pity they can't rap. From struggling to find records in the suburbs and rehearsing on rubbish equipment, to evading the clutches of disapproving parents and real life drug-dealing gangsters, Coconut Unlimited documents every teenage boy's dream and the motivations behind being in a band to look pretty cool - oh, and get girls...

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Music, Indian Literature, Young Adult, Ebooks, Novels

200 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2010

Reviews

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and original. Loved it.

[s · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nikesh Shukla’s debut novel, Coconut Unlimited reads like a friendly reminisce with an old friend. Following the lives of three Asian boys at a private school in Harrow in the 90’s, Shukla’s portrayal of awkward adolescence, balancing social and cultural divides, and just the cringe worthy moments of being a teenager read like a snapshot of British Asian childhood. Born and raised in Harrow myself, the story is familiar, hilarious and very true to life. And that’s not just because of the locality- but rather because the story serves as a microcosm of the second generation immigrant experience at large. The self conscious feelings of not quite fitting into any box whilst simultaneously (and often embarrassingly!) trying to tick every one is an experience that many immigrant kids can relate to, before eventually choosing to immerse yourself into the least expected one! ( I rather embarrassingly remember myself and a group of other Asian girls forcing ourselves to cry in the playground when Tupac died!!) Whilst Shukla has perfectly captured the angst and hilarity of being a teenage misfit with ease, it is his understated prose and often tender treatment of the characters that really stand out for me. When reading Coconut Unlimited, there is an overwhelming sense that Shukla has put an awful lot of himself into the story and the result is an impassioned, funny and vibrant debut. I’ve gifted this book to a lot of people and they all loved it and I must confess I do too, relatable and readable, what’s not to love?!

[David Hebblethwaite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nikesh Shukla’s first novel is the story of Amit; he and his friends Anand and Nishant are the only Asian boys at their private school in early 1990s Harrow. They find themselves struggling to be accepted anywhere: their ethnicity marks them out as different at school, and their schooling marks them out as different amongst the other Asian kids in town. The boys find refuge in a shared love of rap, and decide to start their own hip-hop band, which they name Coconut Unlimited (after Amit’s sister, Nish, calls him a coconut – ‘white on the inside, brown on the outside’ [p. 28]). They just need a bit of practice first. Okay, maybe a lot of practice…

This is such a great book, so sharply observed and amusing. At one level, Coconut Unlimited captures gloriously the awkward moments of adolescence. There’s a wonderful scene where, on a family trip to London, Amit is desperate to buy some baggy jeans, and his mum takes charge, dragging him into a streetwear shop and demanding to know where the jeans are… it makes one’s toes curl in empathy. Amit’s first kiss also runs far from smoothly: he doesn’t quite know what to do with his tongue, the experience feels quite strange… These and other moments are vivid demonstrations of the choppy waters through which the teenage Amit is voyaging.

On another level, Shukla’s novel is an acute portrait of putting on a mask in the aim of being perceived in a certain way, and finding that mask uncomfortable to wear. Unable to reconcile the two cultures he’s caught between, Amit tries to define himself by a third; he’s drawn to the glamour of hip-hop, but doesn’t embrace it wholeheartedly. Amit will put on an accent and use street slang, but wants nothing to do with real crime, and is distinctly out of his depth when dealing with local ‘badboy’ Ash (‘the closest thing to ghetto in my life’ [p. 83]). He’s keen to show off his knowledge (real or pretended) of hip-hop as a way of constructing a persona, but is wrong-footed when he meets a new Asian lad at school who seems to know more about the genre than he does. Amit will criticise his sister for the way she lives her life (‘So insular. All her friends were Gujarati. All her references were Indian’ [p. 70]), and he’ll observe that his mother’s sense of having struggled in life is crucial to her notion of self-worth (‘She thought it made her more humble, when in fact it gave her a feeling of martyrdom’ [p. 72]) – but he can’t see the parallels between those and how he’s using hip-hop culture in his life.

There’s a bittersweet note to the story, in that we know from the prologue that the band doesn’t land, and Amit ends up with a comfortable, middle-class English life. But having that knowledge in the back of one’s mind makes for an effective counterpoint to the main narrative, and the journey through the book is highly enjoyable.

Throughout Coconut Unlimited, Amit repeats that he wants his band to be pretty cool. Well, the band might be pretty cool, but the novel is way cooler than that.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a married, white female, more into Indie rather than Hip Hop in my youth, so according to the law of averages/preconceptions, I shouldn’t have enjoyed Coconut Unlimited at all but, contrary as ever, it ended up as one of my favourite reads in November. This is one of the joys of receiving a wide variety of novels to review – many thanks to Quartet Books for sending this gem my way.

Our narrator, Amit, is a bit of a misfit, an Asian youth on whose narrow shoulders are placed the weighty expectations of his ambitious parents. He attends an almost exclusively white private school in Harrow where he and his pals, Anand and Nishant are subjected to daily tirades of racial abuse from both pupils and teachers. They’re equally estranged from the local Asian community and are dubbed “coconuts” – brown on the outside but white on the inside. The boys decide to adopt a completely different approach, neither white not Asian, worshipping instead at the shrine of Hip Hop – a route which is somewhat encumbered by the fact that they don’t actually know of that many Hip Hop artists and are reduced to swiping old cassettes from relatives to record from the elusive vinyl.

Amit’s mother would much prefer that he bought a nice, sensible pair of jeans from C&A (cringe..) rather than the ludicrously baggy hip hop style – cue memories of my own dear mother despairing of my teenage penchant for black clothing, black eyes and gravity defying hairstyles held together with cheap gel and occasionally a sugar and water mixture…

Nikesh Shukla is an author, film maker and performance poet and you can feel his energy in the rhythmic pace of this coming of age tale – I would love to hear him reading aloud from this novel with its insistent beat and Asian influences which combine to create a nostalgic, enthusiastic record of teenage angst and aspirations. You won’t be able to resist smiling (wryly perhaps..) as you are reminded of the exhuberance of youth, the fashion faux pas, that teenage intensity and the conflict of one minute thinking you’re going to conquer the world and the next, being overwhelmed with self-doubt. I loved this debut novel which is a very strong contender for the Costa First Novel Award – off to listen to my tapes now…

[Ritu Bhathal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel was a real moment of reminiscence for me, taking me back to my youth, and remembering those young Indian lads who thought they were 'bad' because they liked rap and hip hop!
Nikesh Shukla's debut novel was a funny insight into the mind of a 14-year-old Gujju boy, Amit, brought up in Harrow.
A boy sent to private school by parents who scrimped and saved to send him there, with great aspirations for their only boy, whose own hopes and dreams were so different.
Amit never really feels like he fits in, anywhere. He's singled out by pupils and staff in school as one of a handful of Indians, and out of school, he's constantly batting off comments from other family and friends, about him thinking he's too good for them because of going to Private school.
He discovers Hip Hop, and decides that he's going to embrace the Rap and Hip Hop culture with his two friends, and they form a Hip Hop band, Coconut Unlimited, with varying degrees of success...
A fun read.

[Saima · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was a fun read, winding me backwards into the 90s as the story about three 14 year old Asian friends trying to find their identity unfolds. Some of it rang so true to my Asian ears, although his parents were a different kind of Asian than mine. It's a familiar trope of a child at a private school that his parents work hard to send him to. The story was brought to life very well, the school antics dealing with teachers, friends and not-friends and the home life dealing with sisters and parents. I'm not that acquainted with rap but enough to understand who they were talking about and it was easy to understand the boys finding something new to immerse themselves in and the bravado about it with their peers.

[Alex Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lighthearted and warming story that feels very much like the author spilling out their childhood on the pages. Full of humour and plentiful hip-hop references, it is a very easy laid-back read that achieves exactly what it goes out to do. Every character has nice quirks and can definitely be related to people we have all met at secondary school.

[Vishal Shah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Easy book to read, that shows the different periods of teenage life and going through the phases moving as a child to an adult. This book has been set in Harrow or known as little Gujrat. Where three teenagers being infused with American Rap culture/music, how they decide to form a band and start writing their material. The construction is basic and interesting themes are never really explored.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Coconut Unlimited" is a short and sweet look back at the teenage years of three Asian boys. It's not a hard read but for me it wasn't all that interested either. I feel like it was intended for a much smaller audience and this story was lost on me. I enjoyed the first and last chapters, but the story in the middle gives this one 2 stars.

My full review is on my blog now: https://whatrebeccasread.wordpress.co...

[D.e.e. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't expect to love it but this book grew on me. As I progressed through it, I didn't really mind the slightly off hand writing style anymore. It was like the novel was pouring out of the author in a good way.
The rich and super funny depiction of characters, the slang, lots of cultural references, at times dead-serious tone, but actually the overall lightness of the novel really stood out for me and won me over- big fan of this

[Jennsie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story of three Asian friends who are interested in rap music and create a band. They are the minority in a school in Harrow, and they deal with strong racism from other students and teachers. They are the misfits, not fitting in with either culture. It’s a story of their antics. While some of the book was funny, some of it was not well-written, and I disliked the homophobic and racism comments throughout. I don’t think this book aged well.

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made me smile. Baggy jeans & mixed tapes. Who didn't want to be a rap band. Chose lyrics & struggles with coming from Harrow & the small matter of being at private school. Asian parents aren't gonna understand!

[Jonny Brick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very odd to see a school and a town I know expressed in a work of fiction. The narrative and some of the scenes are a bit clunky but the late 90s setting, with appropriate coming-of-age moments mixed with intergenerational tension, salvage it. Good rap verses as well.

[Heidi Coles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely

If you're pushing 40 or 14 it has all the feel good memories of being a misunderstood teen. Definitely worth a read.

[Federica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book telling the story of second generation Asian immigrant young boy and his friends. A coming of age story of 90s London. Very enjoyable read.

[Fatima · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of funny but a little bit cringe. Took me a while to get into it but it picks up around the middle.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. A very easy read and very informative about growing up at that time in London.

[Laura Parkinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Peggy Brookes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was v original and fun with a few little pockets of tenderness!!

[Books HQ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The charm of this book comes from the author’s sympathetic treatment of the characters involved. As readers, we like then, we understand their embarrassment and their dreams. Their experience is so common, that awkward teenage stage when you’re trying to find your place and be seen as cool. For me personally, a thirty-something white girl, this took me back to my youth, when I had Beastie Boys posters next to Kylie posters. My friend and I formed a rap duo (called The Rap Girls) and listened to mix tapes of Salt N Pepa, Wee Papa Girl Rappers and Betty Boo. Those were the days.

[Kayleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read and a good offering for a debut novel. The question of it being fiction could be raised; the feeling of it being more autobiographical than fictional lies heavy throughout the book.
That does no harm to Coconut Unlimited though, as it's heartfelt, personal and full of the worries and humour that hark back to the schooldays of us all. A nice storyline with a nice outcome...readable but not necessarily memorable.

[Maria Longley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the (fictional) memoir of Amit as a teenager in Harrow and atteding a private school as one of very few Asians. He and his friends get into hip hop and form a band: Coconut Unlimited. It's a coming of age story full of mishaps and comedy and I liked the feel-good ending. There were moments to cringe sympathetically alongside the perceived coolness and actual "pretty cool"ness of the characters, and sometimes that was a bit too much for me, but overall I enjoyed the read.

[Georgia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. I have the feeling this is more of a book written for friends and family than for the general market - the author reminiscing on the past for the sake of it being his past. I didn't really enjoy the writing style or the characters, the conclusion was vaguely disappointing and the overwhelming feeling was of awkward teenage humiliation. It felt like the type of story you could tell someone in five minutes for an easy laugh, but probably not substantial enough to build a book around.

[Liz Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book was going to be so much better than it was, but it was a real slog to get to the end. I see that it was trying to show a genuine portrayal of adolescence and cultural differences, but it lacked warmth for me and I did not really empathise with the characters. I appreciate that I was a teenage girl not boy growing up, but it all seemed a bit pointless and generic....didn't all teenage boys want to be rappers in the 90's?!? Disappointing.

[Adam Beddoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

An easy read - this book focuses on the difficult transition period of teenage life when you are moving from being a child to an adult. This is set against the backdrop of Britain becoming increasingly racially aware and more dominated by US culture. The construction is basic and interesting themes are never really explored.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that brings back loneliness of being a teenager & not knowing who you're supposed to be. The aching need to both assert your individuality and, at the same time, to belong.
The characters and events just rang so true. And the music references brought back all kinds of memories: the good, the bad and the excruciatingly embarrassing.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fine. Not having much access to the subculture it celebrates, I felt a litte anthropological reading it, but that's fine. Perfectly pleasant, even if the amount of action, character development, etc. was perhaps more suited to a long shor story than a 200 page novel.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant book, easy to read, didnt tax the brain too much.
A nice story of growing up in Harrow, obsessed by hiphop and standing out as one of the few asian kids in the school.

I think Shukla hit all the right notes on cringeworthy teen behaviour, and styles, and obsessions.

enjoyable.

[Poonam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an account of an Indian Gujju kid growing up in English suburb. Story revolves around his ambition to start a band called 'Coconut Unlimited' and trials and tribulations around it.

I could finish this book only by sheer willpower not so much because the book hooked me.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

We could have been contendaz! Surprisingly effective blending of Nick Hornby/coming of age with teenage gangster rappers, with a very moving conclusion.