Too Asian, Not Asian Enough

Edited by Kavita Bhanot Too Asian, Not Asian Enough is a collection of short stories by British Asian writers transcending cultural identities.

Edited by Kavita Bhanot Too Asian, Not Asian Enough is a collection of short stories by British Asian writers transcending cultural identities.

If you want to embark on a journey through the psyche of Asians living in Britain, the prejudice they face every day, and the feelings this bias evokes in them, then this is not the book for you.

Too Asian, Not Asian Enough is an anthology of 21 short stories, by British Asian writers. The choice of stories consciously avoids the staple fare of culture-clash, parents’ vs. kids’ struggles and oppression of the ‘coloured’, trying to break the stereotypical writing expected from British Asian authors. Not bound by region, religion, era or societal norms, the writing is a perfect mix of humour, bizarre, drama, satire and erotica.

Some of the stories, like ‘Familiar Skin’ and ‘The Sky is Always Yours’, are predictable to the last word. But a majority of them are a refreshing change. While ‘All You Can Dream’, a story about a bunch of frustrated fifty-something men who “could not get laid in a brothel”, is bound to make you laugh, others like ‘Two Pearls’ and ‘Sepulchre’ are sure to leave you with a heavy heart. ‘Mosaic’ will show you another era through the eyes of a warrior’s wife and take you through her inner struggles, while ‘La Coiffeuse’ and ‘The Tablet of Bliss’ borders on pure bizarre.

The only thing that does remind you of the background of the authors is not the stories themselves, but the opening line of the introduction by the Editor, Kavita Bhanot, which almost sounds like a disclaimer. In short, if you forget that these are British Asian writers then this will be like any other collection of short stories, and a fairly interesting one at that.

Publishers: Tindal Street Press

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About the Author

Arunima Shekhar

Founder @Tell-A-Tale - I gobble stories and spit out new ones everyday; travel addict, software engineer, storywriter for brands, mentor, Renaissance woman in-the-making. read more...

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