A Take on Education, Migration, and Immigration...What Connects America to the World and Why |
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Issue 6: June 15, 2021 This one is all about THE BOOK...PRE-ORDER yours now! |
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My 11-year-old recently got invited by her best friend to go away for a week to a fancy beach resort and all she can do is talk about her upcoming trip to the point that she has driven everyone in our family nuts. When I rolled my eyes at the dinner table again last night, she came back with this: "We have listened patiently to you talk about your book for some years now, so now you know how it feels.” Touche and ouch, and yes cheeky (but we will leave that one alone for another time), but so, so true. I share this because I bring this newsletter issue to you with no attempt at clever and engaging content. Instead, I ask for your indulgence as I take you behind the scenes in the lead up to my book going to the printer. YES! Fours years after I first began work on it; countless hours later; after tons and tons of research, data, and fact-checking (I am, after all, a researcher, and yet I am petrified that I will get something wrong); battling the daily, invisible monsters of self-doubt and insecurity that perch on my shoulders each time I write; revision after revision, fussing over every word and turn of phrase; 78,000 words later…I held the Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of the book in my hands. I am too self-conscious to share an unboxing video, which is all the rage these days, and I didn’t do a social-media-worthy victory dance. My honest and immediate reaction? The book felt so...insubstantial. How could that much hard work and all those words be condensed into something so compact, weighing mere ounces? But I also know from many such occasions in my life that any time we achieve something big, that we have labored over for SO, SO, LONG, the actual moment of arrival, or accomplishment can actually feel anti-climactic. |
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The book is pet-approved! |
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But wait a minute? Why am I telling you this? I am supposed to be promoting and marketing my book (which I will do in a minute) but I also want to share with you what this process feels like. I had promised you early on when you signed up for this newsletter that it wouldn’t be a shameless plug for my book, but today is an exception and I will claim this space exactly for that purpose. So, here is the update: America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibility, comes out in three months (Sep. 14) and I would be delighted if you would consider pre-ordering it and also sharing it with friends and others who you think might be interested in it. |
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Sharing the ARC over a cup of coffee with good friend and colleague, Anna Esaki-Smith, in Chappaqua, followed by a visit to Scattered Books to introduce myself as a local author. It has been a month of visiting local bookstores, and discovering online that many are carrying the book including favorites such as Politics and Prose in DC and Pegasus Books in Berkeley where I used to shop all the time. |
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I feel very blessed to have received some wonderful advance praise for the book where Andrew Hamilton, President of NYU, says, “As an immigrant with an educational background that spans two continents myself, I see an element of universality in Bhandari's narrative that transcends culture and national origin,” and Shashi Tharoor, former Under-Secretary General to the UN and bestselling author of 22 books says that “America Calling is sometimes funny, often moving, and always thought-provoking,” and Firoozeh Dumas, NYT best-selling author of Funny in Farsi: Growing up Iranian in America and whose father came to the US on a Fulbright from Iran, says that “Books like this make America a kinder and wiser nation…highly recommended for high schools and colleges.” And the final stamp of literary approval from the authoritative Kirkus Reviews: “Dispelling all sorts of easy and false assumptions, Bhandari’s informative memoir is for readers who want to understand how interconnected the world really is.” So, if you’re curious to read what all these early reviewers are talking about, here is the pre-order information (depending on where you like to buy your books): If we have the chance to meet in the near future, it will be my pleasure and honor to sign the book for you. Thank you for supporting me by reading this newsletter, by staying engaged, and hopefully reading my book as well! Until next time, when I will be back to writing about education, immigration and culture, and where there will be lots to write and share as it is National Immigrant Heritage Month and Black Music Appreciation Month in the U.S., World Refugee Day (June 20), and World Music Day (June 21)! Rajika |
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