The Inscrutable Americans by Anurag Mathur

Welcome to Paperback Trails. Today we talk about a book by Anurag Mathur. The story is about a small town boy who goes to the USA for his studies. The plot, as is very obvious, resonated with the Indians back home and with the Indian kids who too wanted their grand old American dream. It was this connect and mass appeal which catapulted this book to instant fame when it was released in 1991. Cut to 2019 and the book still remains relatable as scores of Indian students continue to flock to the USA for their higher education.

Before we dive into the book, let us have a look at the author once. Anurag Mathur is an author and a  journalist from New Delhi. He attended the prestigious St. Stephens College and went on to attain his master's degree from the University of Tulsa. His writings, have a mass appeal for their simple prose construction and the vocabulary demanded by his books is not too much: making his books fun to read and his stories interesting to follow and enjoy.

Now to talk about the Inscrutable Americans, let us answer the 3 questions of What, Why and How.

Why did I pick up this book: As an Indian who is himself about to embark on an academic journey to the USA, this book was an obvious choice to pick up. Further, the heft of the book was pretty nominal and that would have made for a quick and interesting read over a weekend.

What was this book all about: The book follows the (mis)adventures of Gopal. A small town kid from India, who gets accepted into a prestigious university owing to his practical vocational knowledge in India. The book deals with his hilarious shenanigans during his one year at the American University, as he overcomes his massive cultural shock and gradually tries to fit in. During that one year, he goes through love, heartbreak, muggings and a host of other things. At the university, Gopal makes friends with Randy, a student appointed by the director to help Gopal make a transition to the USA culture. Gopal and Randy form a strong bond of friendship. Randy the debonair takes Gopal on a wild ride and their chemistry is highly enjoyable throughout. Some of their adventures included introducing Gopal to dating, helping Gopal lose his virginity, getting mugged together etc. Another parallel narration which keeps on going throughout the book is in the form of letters, which Gopal writes to his family back in India. The prose and composition of the letters add more humour to the plot and you get to know a little about how Gopal's family thinks, their value systems etc. Gradually after a thoroughly eventful year at the university, Gopal begins his journey back, after having had his brush with the inscrutable Americans.

How was this book to read: Many times, you just want to read a book which can help you cut off from the tomes of serious books on your TBR list. A book which tells a simple story and tells it well. A book which is light and quick to read. Well, the Inscrutable Americans is just that book and to top it, is extremely funny. Being from India, the relatability of course if much more for me than it would say for a guy from any other Asian country, but nonetheless, the feelings and trepidations of a small town boy coming to the USA for the first time have been captured poignantly. The book was written during the time the Indian economy was opening up to the international markets and investors. India was suddenly a part of a nascent globalised world order. Indian Students had begun to head out to explore more educational and job opportunities in much greater numbers and children from even small obscure towns were dreaming their version of the American dream. It was in such a milieu that this book was written and even today after 2 decades, a small town boy might go through the same feelings of awe, fear, excitement and jitter when he enters USA for the first time. Apart from the prose, the book takes a very nuanced approach to the problems a kid from India might face. Despite being an old book, many of the quips and situations were fresh and made me chuckle. Inscrutable Americans starts out to tell a story and does exactly that in an extremely hilarious and ingenious way.

Can this be your first book: This book, because of the way it's written would make for an ideal first book. You can very well be inspired to start reading more and explore literature. The book because of its language is not very tough to comprehend. This makes the novice reader appreciate the humour and plot much more, making for a very engaging read

You might not like this book: If you don't like simple narrative based stories. This book is entirely devoid of the nuanced emotions or experiences of an immigrant as you might find in a V.S Naipaul book. But hey, it never set out, claiming that in the first place. You might not like this book if you want your book to be intellectually challenging and expect complicated plot points, a nailbiting finish or a read with intermittent eureka moments.

With this, we come to the end of our trail stop. I hope you would pick up this book, especially all the students going out to the US to study, and have as great a time as I had, watching Gopal figure out the every so inscrutables Americans. Until then, keep on reading, keep recommending and keep on sharing for more the passengers on the paperback trail the better.