Members Only

By: Sameer Pandya

Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra

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.

Narrated by Sunil Malhotra. AudioFile Earphones Award Winner.

A Gem

First, I'm shocked that there aren't more reviews here because this is a great book. It looks at class and ethnicity, winding the themes into a well-written tale about one man's journey of self-discovery. The characters are well developed, particularly the protagonist, Raj, a lovable but flawed fellow. Really, just about anyone with a decent level of self-awareness and humility will see themselves in Raj. The author nicely weaves in humor, his descriptions are wonderful.

Full disclosure---I first read this book when it was first published and loved it. When I heard that his second book was forthcoming, I used a credit to listen to this one again and loved every minute. The narrator brought the story to life.

I am now into "Beautiful Boys," the author's new book, and thoroughly enjoying it. I'm adding Mr. Pandya to my "follow" cadre and look forward to his future work!

Stick with it... so worth it!

I found this story had a rather slow start and initially was perplexed as it is a Nerdette podcast selection. But at about a quarter of the way through I was riveted and binged the rest of the book in a couple days. This book gave me so much food for thought, I feel stuffed. In a good way. Enjoy this journey with the protagonist Raj. He’s complex and ultimately heroic.