This book is about the terrible week that Raj Bhatt is having in his social and professional lives. He is accused of racism in one and reverse-racism in the other.

The issues raised in the book are very timely and you both cringe and sympathize with the narrator Raj. You understand that his intentions are not bad and he is on the receiving end of a lot of discrimination that bubbles over at unfortunate times. But then, what is a good time to rebel against racism.

Loved the book. It was a quick read with some humor thrown in. Looking forward to reading more from the author.

Professor Raj Bhatt is having a terrible week. He’s made an offensive comment to a prospective member of his tennis club, students from his Anthropology class are protesting remarks he made in class, and his son is in trouble at school. Raj has all the credentials to be accepted in elite circles: an Ivy League doctorate, a professorship, and a white wife. He’s also a member of an exclusive tennis club, a place where his wife grew up and a place he and his kids already love. But Raj didn’t grow up with the elite. His grandparents did well in Bombay, but when Raj’s mother and father moved the family to the United States, they had to start over. As an immigrant, he’s aware of the subtle and not-so-subtle slights towards him and other minorities in professional and social circles.

So to be accused of reverse racism on several fronts shakes Raj to the point of collapse. How can he make people see he’s been misunderstood?

It starts with the offensive comment. Raj was merely excited that people of color were being considered for membership and blurts out the worst possible thing. The membership committee is outraged and embarrassed and the prospective black couple, a prominent cardiologist and trauma surgeon, rush out before Raj can apologize.

What’s at the core of this scene and others in Pandya’s debut novel is the bundle of complex issues of racial and religious discrimination, class distinction, feeling inadequate and being an outsider. It’s ironic for Raj because, as an anthropologist, he chose his profession to understand human societies and cultures.

I had done it because I loved the idea of talking to people and trying to understand them, to see how different they were. And perhaps, if I dug far enough into their lives and histories, I could discover how similar they were too,” he says.

I enjoyed this fast-moving and very readable story. Raj’s character is well developed and wonderfully human, a reflection of how complicated prejudices and misconceptions can be. Pandya places these problems in the middle of a contemporary marriage, where pressures to have it all and maintain an image can distort what it means to be happy.

Members Only tackles difficult and modern problems, ones that its characters seem unlikely to entirely resolve. But the story is also full of compassion, forgiveness, hope and several touching scenes. I recommend this book to readers who like stories with realistic characters who make mistakes, but who are good people underneath.

Members Only was a interesting, poignant, and sometimes uncomfortable (in a good way) to read. The author masterfully weaves in the character's personal history in the context of a single week in his life. This book deals with race and class and is done so beautifully

Raj Bhatt is having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week. His mostly happy life is thrown in disarray after a series of actions and reactions. Members Only by Sameer Pandya is an exploration of race and racial identity in America.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher. All thoughts are my own.

A terrific read a book about racism. About fitting in.Raj a college professor Indian by birth. Hr now lives in la with his wife and kids He is on the board of an elite swim club.The board is interviewing couples who want to be members.All is going well till a black couple come in to apply.Raj while in with them says something so offensive so racist his world will spin out of control.Will be recommending this involv nove..#netgalley #hmh

Raj is having the worst week of his life: his all-white tennis club is accusing him of being racist after an inappropriate joke, he might lose his job after a group of conservative students label him as a reverse-racist, he recently acquired a stalker, and he is waiting on biopsy results. Raj has lived in the U.S. since he was eight years old, when his parents uprooted their family from Bombay. While he has never felt that he particularly fit in anywhere, he and his family found a community in white suburbia...or so they thought. Can one ignorant remark and a misunderstood lecture leave Raj unemployed and removed from the club?

This was an emotional rollercoaster. There were points in the book that I audibly gasped. I was horrified, anxious, frustrated, defeated, upset, and slightly bored at times. Initially, I was irritated by Raj's inability to finish a thought without going off on a vaguely related tangent. Having finished the book, I cannot think of any other way that could accomplish the necessary backstories as eloquently. The backstory was crucial to understanding who Raj is at the core.

It is so hard to believe that all of this unfolded in one short, and absolutely terrible, week. Raj is such a likable and relatable character that I really felt for him. When I wasn't screaming "No, don't do that! Don't say that! Stop!" that is. But I can identify with that quick-to-anger response also; put in the same position, I probably would have screamed worse things far more frequently. We are our own worst enemy, right?

Members Only follows Raj Bhatt, an Indian man living in the United States with his wife and family. While interviewing new couples for the tennis club they’re a part of, Raj makes a racist joke in an attempt to connect. Later in the later week, some of Raj’s college students accuse him of reverse racism.

Sameer Pandaya has done a wonderful job exploring the everyday racism that exists in our lives. I found Raj to be a very likable main character, and that made it even more painful as I watched his story unfold.

It was so frustrating to see (mainly white) people constantly discriminate against Raj, while also wildly condemning him for his small errors. I have thought a lot about this novel since putting it down, and I highly recommend it. Members Only does an expert job at examining this complicated topic. I think it will be especially enlightening to white readers like myself, as it made it so painfully obvious how each small act microaggression combined creates a much larger problem. I highly encourage you to read this novel!

Very good!

Race issues abound in Members Only.

This book is about an Indian-American college professor who faces racial dilemmas.

This was a very unique book that dealt with race issues. The professor in this book was accused of being racist toward Caucasians. . an unusual twist.

3 stars!

I loved this book. Raj the central character has a week where things go from mad to worse for him and his life spirals out of control. I felt so empathy for him & was rooting for him. Thank you so much to Netgalley for this gem of a book.

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. .
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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.”
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Heartfelt, humorous, and hard-hitting, Members Only explores what membership and belonging mean, as Raj navigates the complicated space between black and white America.
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Almost forgot to add this to my currently reading (my bad). I am surprised I liked this as much as I did because most books on race and racism tend to be similar; this was not. Raj, the main character grows up in Bombay and moves to California at a young age. He has always struggled to fit in and that doesn't change as an adult even though he is happily married to a white woman and now has children of his own. Raj has been an avid tennis player so his wife decides to make him members at a Tennis Club (TC). Thinking he will gain some friendship while enjoying his favorite pastime is met without a lot if of sneers, uppity snobs and other members being less than thrilled that a person of color is a member of their prestigious club.

I absolutely loved this book and can empathize as a white woman who has black friends and has had black boyfriends. Very strong themes throughout and written with compassion and highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 7/7/20

The narrator of this book, Raj, is a college professor and amateur tennis player whose life is dramatically altered after he makes a racist comment to the first other person of color to apply for his tennis club. The writing is well done and the topics covered are difficult and leave you thinking. The bulk of the book takes place in a single week and just shows you how much difference a week can make. Raj faces judgement at work and at the club and struggles with how to manage the stress while shielding his family from the worst or the harassment he faces. The characters are well written and feel alive on the page. The book is detailed but story driven and captivated the reader’s interest until the last page. I definitely recommend this one!

Raj, an Indian man born in Bombay and living in the United States since he was 8, is an Anthropology professor at a local college in California. His wife Eva, a white woman born and raised on the West Coast, grew up going to a Tennis Club (TC) and when she and Raj move back to California, they decide to join so Raj can continue to play tennis and their kids can socialize with other children and use the pool and facilities.

Initially, Raj feels like joining the TC is a way for him to find his footing and feel accepted, something with which he's always struggled. The TC is overwhelmingly white, a fact Raj is all too aware of and is constantly reminded of by others unconsciously. Raj is asked to join the membership committee for the TC and he hopes to be the change he wishes to see at the club. When another couple sponsors the Browns, a black couple, Raj is thrilled. So thrilled in fact, that he gets in his own way and nervously blurts a phrase that is construed as a racist remark during the Browns' membership interview.

Raj is horrified and ashamed of his slip. His attempts at relating and being funny have completely backfired. But worse is the reaction of the other members of the TC. For years Raj has been the victim of ignorant and condescending remarks from his peers at the club and never has anyone defended him. Now, the committee members are outraged, with the Browns' sponsors going so far as to say that Raj and his family are no longer welcome as members of the club. Embarrassed but also demeaned, Raj's anger toward the injustice of his treatment grows.

Raj's luck goes from bad to worse back at school on Monday. During a routine anthropology lecture, a student films a piece of his lecture which includes a philosophy that criticizes Christianity and America. The video is posted to an online forum where Raj is accused of being racist against whites. Anonymously, the student also files a formal complaint against Raj with the dean of the college. Now, not only is his reputation at stake, but also his job.

Accused of being discriminatory against people of color and against white America, Raj is stuck between a rock and a hard place. His life is spiraling out of control. People start leaving nasty voice messages on his home phone, #FireDrRaj trends on Twitter, someone is potentially following him, and on aggressive on campus protests crop up. Raj fears for his and his family's safety, even more so than he usually does by being brown in America.

The novel primarily takes place over the span of one, horrible week. It's an ever present reminder of how quickly a situation can get out of hand, especially given the current social media climate.

My heart went out to Raj. He is a relatable character - someone we all see a bit of ourselves in. I could feel my anxiety building as Raj made one terrible decision after another. I often found myself wondering if I genuinely believed that I'd handle anything better if I were in such an awful position. Raj had a kind heart and his missteps seemed to come from places of insecurity rather than any malicious intent. I really lauded Raj's sense of self, ability to treat others kindly even when he was being mistreated, and propensity toward forgiveness.

The writing was excellent and the backstories Raj told provided authenticity and depth to his character. This was definitely 4.5 stars for me but I opted to round down because I wanted a little more from the story and it wrapped up a little too quickly for me. Race and race relations are such important topics and something we need to talk about more. The underlying messages and overall story were incredibly powerful. I especially loved that the story focused on an Indian, as I hadn't read a novel about racial tension and discrimination from that perspective previously. This is a must read!

Thank you to BookishFirst, Netgalley, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Read if you: Want a challenging read about racism, both overt and subjective, from an Indian-American perspective.

This is not a story for those who enjoy stories with wholly sympathetic characters. Raj can be rather annoying at times, but his habit of speaking before he thinks, his growing despair over the microagressions he experiences in daily life, and his love for his family, especially during trying times, will open eyes to those who do not share his experiences. Sameer Pandya has a gift for creating uncomfortable and relevant scenes and situations; looking forward to reading more from him.

Librarians and booksellers: Purchase for your patrons/customers who enjoy literary fiction about social issues; this adds a needed perspective. This would be a good book club pick for those that enjoy discussing contemporary topics about society.

Many thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.