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33. Gautam Malkani, Londonstani

This book was wonderful. The narrator is Jas, who used to be a bit of a geek, but now is very determined to be a true hard South Asian man, and the story is told through his inner monologue, complete with his worries with trying to fit in and learn the right slang. The slang gives the story so much rhythm and distinctiveness; it was really enjoyable to read. The beginning of the book seemed slow- lots of scenes about Jas and his crew hanging out, checking out ladies, getting into fights, making small-time trouble with stolen cellphones- but when the plot started to develop, it took off very quickly, bringing together threads I hadn't even noticed where developing.

Despite the very fun, rollicking plot, there are a lot of big themes developed: how tradition becomes tradition, cultural appropriation, youth rebellion and mainstream culture, the choices people make in terms of understanding culture. And the end! I did not see the end coming at all, but it makes me want to reread the entire book to look at it with that knowledge. I thought it worked really well with the themes of the book.

Very recommended!

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