A wonderfully crafted book that explores many themes while being very readable and moving.

Actual rating is in fact 2.5 stars

What is the probability that an American university hires for its English literature class a professor that despite an impressive writing style and book writing achievements displays talking skills showing a very limited IQ? Almost close to nil.
However, Chandra Shekhar built an otherwise well coordinated story around the frail and meek figure of David Tan, a Chinese-born academic with great writing skills, but with a vocabulary that even learning two words the day for his last five years of life in US would have been dramatically improved. His dialogues are so ridiculously limited that you might wonder how he is able to survive on the street completely on his own, but him, teaching in an American university in the English language? This assumption doesn't make any sense. Last but not least, David is talking with his father from China in some English too, with his simple father language skills highly proficient compared to those of his academic son.
This main flaw is in fact an annoying aspect of a book with well crafted subplots and page-turning everyday stories from the busy Californian corporate life. Laura, David's ambitious wife, looks like a negative character, although a very coherent one, but after all, you might wander why someone so over achieving will end up after all with someone she can hardly talk with in simple yet coherent sentences. The PR challenge she is coping with is also interesting and has so many realistic elements. Her counter-candidate, the gentle Melissa is also business driven, but in a more human way, but maybe her age makes a difference.
Actually, if not the annoying clumsiness of portraying David, I would have greatly enjoy the book, which I finished in just one late afternoon reading. However, most probably would be curious to read other books by Shekhar as his writing promises in a very curious way.

A quick enjoyable read told well. A great first novel and a fun, interesting read.

I requested this book because I thought it would be reminiscent of Celeste Ng. In a way, it did. The story follows three characters, David, a Chinese author turned professor stateside, his wife, and a student he helped out. Life is not perfect for David, there is the language barrier and his rocky marriage to Laura--who uncovers a plot at work that puts her job in jeopardy, and Melissa, the student who has a crush on him. The story itself is compelling and there is a certain lyrical beauty in how the story ends.

A beautiful story, sad and funny in places.
Much like life really.
I found this to be a very easy read, something totally different for me.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This was an impressive a debut and a captivating novel. Well developed characters and relatable challenges provided a thoroughly enjoyable read

Mock My Words tells the story of a Chinese literary genius, David Tan, who goes to California to teach fiction writing. Though David writes brilliantly in English, he struggles to speak that language. His students scorn him and his colleagues snub him. He gets no sympathy from his sexy but cruel American wife Laura, who is embroiled in a high-tech conspiracy at work. Meanwhile, Melissa, a charming student who seeks David's help in rewriting a business plan for a device to help the elderly walk again, ends up falling in love with him. For uncovering a sinister NSA-sponsored snooping scheme that her superiors wanted to bury, Laura loses her job, but finds a new love interest and dumps her husband. Melissa's business idea takes off, but she can't get David out of her head and reaches out to him. Devastated by his wife’s betrayal, David is slow to respond to Melissa’s overtures, but, in the end, she wins his heart.

This fast-paced multi-genre novel interweaves strands of marital drama, techno-thriller, and romantic comedy into a narrative that bridges popular and literary fiction. It is intended for literate, cosmopolitan adults and young adults.

This book is a complete change for me as I usually read psychological thrillers, police procedurals or chick lit. The book had a very slow pace and although it kept my attention throughout, I have to say this one wasn’t for me. I’m certain other readers will disagree with me. 3*

I enjoyed this book, although I found it a little disjointed. David Tan is about to start his first lecture in classic literature at John Steinbeck University in San Francisco. He is an acclaimed writer but not a native English speaker and he is nervous, with good reason it turns out! One can't help but sympathise with the somewhat hapless attempts by David to connect with his students. It is not only his professional life that is not going well, his marriage to American, Laura seems to have passed the honeymoon phase big time. The book follows David and Laura, both in work and private lives. The somewhat side stories of Laura becoming embroiled in a PR scandal, and a student Melissa's new business venture can at times seem a bit disjointed and for me the ending seemed in a rush to tie up all the loose ends a bit too neatly.

David Tan is a literary genius. He has written two novels that have won major literary prizes. He is Chinese but writes in English prose too beautiful for words. He is married to Laura, a go-getter woman who prizes her career highly and they live in the United States of America. It all sounds idyllic doesn’t it? Except it’s not. David and Laura’s marriage is rocky to say the least and David’s new job as a lecturer of Literature at the fancy university is creating a huge amount of stress for him because whilst he might be profound with the written word, he is far from proficient in the English language, which leads to all manner of confusion and frustration both personally and professionally.

This is a simple read, not too long at 215 pages and easy to get through. The frustration that David experiences in his inability to physically express what he is mentally thinking and feeling is very real as he grapples with the language. The linguistic style is stilted and halting, very much like a new language speaker is. The way the relationship between Laura and David is described I'm sure meant to be a light hearted expression of a marriage falling apart, but at times it was difficult to read because it was so abusive. David is walking on eggshells around his wife, doing everything he can to win her affection and she is, even though I'm sure the author meant her to be sympathetic, in a word, a bitch.

The story has a nice cylindrical feel to it starting as it ends, making it a clever twist from the author. The characters are not all likable and you do feel strongly sympathy for David and the challenges before him. There is a nice group of background characters who become David’s friends and support network. A fair proportion of the story is given over to Laura’s working experience and the challenges set before her with a nice twist that plays into the whole story.

Looking at the difficulty of enveloping oneself into a foreign culture, what it takes to make a relationship work and how difficult life is in the academic world with student evaluations and self-righteous behaviour are all explored here. It is an easy story and provided some entertainment on a summer’s day.

This was an impressive and delightful debut! Such talented writing made for a captivating novel. Well developed characters and relatable challenges provided a thoroughly enjoyable read.

An enjoyable and clever read. I was drawn to this novel because at the heart of it lie linguistic and cultural differences. David can express himself wonderfully in written English, but, as is often the case with non-native speakers, struggles when he is speaking the same language. That he would have an American wife like Laura, to whom communication means something entirely different and students who are unadapted to the slower pace of written literary language and unwilling to make allowances, is ironic but at the same time very realistic. The classic story structure and the old-fashioned way of making the main event of each chapter the title add to the charm of the book. A hint of crime, drama, and romance drive the story forward to its expected but satisfactory conclusion.