As the title itself suggests, the book is about a foreigner’s efforts at understanding the ‘not so easily understood’ Americans. But the author of the book Anurag Mathur makes this book memorable with his comic style of writing and depicting the journey of revelation.
The protagonist of the story is a young boy, Gopal, who hails from a small town in India and is going to America for further studies so that he can come back and make a success of his family business – that of making and selling hair oil. A business that has been in his family for generations on end.
Gopal is sent to America with promises from his mother that he will concentrate only on studies and not take on to the American culture and lifestyle. And promise to his grandmother that he will eat in restaurants only where they have Brahmin cooks and not eat meat.
Not exposed to even big city life in India, Gopal is a real simpleton and every situation that he faces is written about in a hilarious fashion because of the way his thoughts lead him to believe what the consequences will be.
The book gives a decent account of the American life style and culture with proper parallels drawn to those of the Indian way of doing or living.
While Gopal is the Indian representative, he meets Randy who is his American counterpart and his friend who guides him through college.
On discovering that Gopal is still a virgin, Randy takes it on himself to accomplish the feat of making Gopal losing his virginity. At some points in the novel, you feel that there is undue importance given to this event. But that somehow forms the crux of it all. Because apart from almost everything, girls in America are much more open and free to make their own choices than girls in India will ever be – at least in small towns.
Gopal to begin with is quite taken by any girl who smiles at him or even gives him a look. But alas, is unable to fulfill Randy’s ambition (as he likes to call it).
The book is fun to read with its comic writing and all that. Most hilarious are Gopal’s letters to his younger brother wherein he gives an account of American things he has encountered on a periodic basis. The best thing is also the fact that the book doesn’t undermine any culture – Indian or American – just states that it is different. And so is this book.