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Good Indian Girls: Stories
In twelve startling and vividly imagined stories, Ranbir Singh Sidhu overturns the lives of ordinary Indians living in America to bring us a bold debut collection, Good Indian Girls.
A woman attends a de-cluttering class in search of love. A low-level, drunkard diplomat finds himself mysteriously transferred to the Consulate in San Francisco, where everyone believes he is a great, lost poet. An anthropological expedition searching for early human fossils goes disastrously wrong and the leader turns to searching for the very first sounds made by humans. The wife of a retiring Consul pays tribute to her pet python by preparing to serve him to her dinner guests. A strange skull discovered outside an orphanage results in the creation of a cult around one of the charismatic young residents.
Unsettling, moving, insightful, humorous — these beautifully written stories travel between despair and redemption as they illuminate the lives of often deeply flawed characters, and mark the emergence of a major new voice in American fiction.
“Achingly merciless, London-born author Sidhu’s 12 short stories sharply delineate the edges of identity and sanity…These haunting tales simultaneously attract and repel, enchant and shatter…Sidhu creates inscrutable characters inhabiting bewildering circumstances. Smart, provocative and poignantly disturbing, this collection, the author’s U.S. debut, signals a writer to watch.” —Kirkus (Starred Review)
“Though weird and eccentric, Sidhu’s stories are also empathetic and refreshingly free of the clichés of immigrant narratives. He manages to portray his characters as uniquely Indian without losing sight of their individuality, offering small, piercing looks into the humanity that resides in every situation and person, no matter how strange.”—Publishers Weekly
“Whenever I pick up a story by Ranbir Sidhu, I feel as though I’ve been released from the cedarwood closet of literature into the fresh air of active creation; as though I’d been fitted with brand-new high-tech earphones picking up an infinity of eloquent microphones cleverly scattered around the world. The pops and squeaks of new life crackle in my ears, and even when they’re threatening or saddening, I’m inevitably overcome by the hope that they’ll never stop.”—Harry Mathews, author of My Life in CIA, Cigarettes and The Journalist
“Ranbir Sidhu is imaginative, with a dry, sly wit, very intelligent, and owns a wicked sensibility, all of which makes his fiction smart, daring, sensitive to human perversity, and keen in its observations. He is one of the most compelling and sophisticated younger writers today; and his writing is beautiful and entertaining.”—Lynne Tillman, author of American Genius, A Comedy and No Lease On Life
“[Sidhu’s] work takes risks, is often daring and imaginative, and I appreciate the intelligence he brings to his craft. I look forward to reading his new collection of stories, Good Indian Girls.”—Edward Albee, author of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
A woman attends a de-cluttering class in search of love. A low-level, drunkard diplomat finds himself mysteriously transferred to the Consulate in San Francisco, where everyone believes he is a great, lost poet. An anthropological expedition searching for early human fossils goes disastrously wrong and the leader turns to searching for the very first sounds made by humans. The wife of a retiring Consul pays tribute to her pet python by preparing to serve him to her dinner guests. A strange skull discovered outside an orphanage results in the creation of a cult around one of the charismatic young residents.
Unsettling, moving, insightful, humorous — these beautifully written stories travel between despair and redemption as they illuminate the lives of often deeply flawed characters, and mark the emergence of a major new voice in American fiction.
“Achingly merciless, London-born author Sidhu’s 12 short stories sharply delineate the edges of identity and sanity…These haunting tales simultaneously attract and repel, enchant and shatter…Sidhu creates inscrutable characters inhabiting bewildering circumstances. Smart, provocative and poignantly disturbing, this collection, the author’s U.S. debut, signals a writer to watch.” —Kirkus (Starred Review)
“Though weird and eccentric, Sidhu’s stories are also empathetic and refreshingly free of the clichés of immigrant narratives. He manages to portray his characters as uniquely Indian without losing sight of their individuality, offering small, piercing looks into the humanity that resides in every situation and person, no matter how strange.”—Publishers Weekly
“Whenever I pick up a story by Ranbir Sidhu, I feel as though I’ve been released from the cedarwood closet of literature into the fresh air of active creation; as though I’d been fitted with brand-new high-tech earphones picking up an infinity of eloquent microphones cleverly scattered around the world. The pops and squeaks of new life crackle in my ears, and even when they’re threatening or saddening, I’m inevitably overcome by the hope that they’ll never stop.”—Harry Mathews, author of My Life in CIA, Cigarettes and The Journalist
“Ranbir Sidhu is imaginative, with a dry, sly wit, very intelligent, and owns a wicked sensibility, all of which makes his fiction smart, daring, sensitive to human perversity, and keen in its observations. He is one of the most compelling and sophisticated younger writers today; and his writing is beautiful and entertaining.”—Lynne Tillman, author of American Genius, A Comedy and No Lease On Life
“[Sidhu’s] work takes risks, is often daring and imaginative, and I appreciate the intelligence he brings to his craft. I look forward to reading his new collection of stories, Good Indian Girls.”—Edward Albee, author of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
10 people are currently reading
168 people want to read
About the author
Ranbir Singh Sidhu
6 books5 followersRanbir Singh Sidhu is the author of Good Indian Girls, a collection of stories, and Deep Singh Blue, a novel (forthcoming 2014). He is a winner of the Pushcart Prize in Fiction and a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, and other awards. His plays include True East, Conquistadors, and Sangeet. His fiction appears in The Georgia Review, Fence, Zyzzyva, The Missouri Review, Other Voices, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Barcelona Review and other journals and anthologies. New stories are in The Happy Hypocrite (UK) and The Literary Review (USA).
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 12, 2014
The penis worship in this book is too much. The two stars are for the stories 'Neanderthal Tongues' and 'The Order of Things.' It's really more of a 1.5 star book for me... I found the majority of these stories just kind of gross and uncomfortable to read.
April 22, 2021
The first book which I actually threw away midway while reading it because it's the worst book I read this year.
Read this one because
1. I had the physical copy
2. I wasted my money on it so I wanted to read it to see if it's worth the title.
Regretted it?
You bet!
*Contents:
1. The Good Poet of Africa
2 🌟
*Unlikeable character alert, perverted thoughts (not needed at all, author) and he judges everyone he meets for nothing.
*And this:
"I hated poetry - worst was Urdu poetry."
(I don't like you)
The writing is all over the place and why is the story so long for nothing?
2. The Discovery
1 🌟
*Are you trying to write porn?
*What's with the misleading representations although we know you're trying to defend the misleading misunderstanding of terrorism when it comes to some particular communities?
*Liar alert. What are you trying to prove?
*Big words, misleading presentation
3. Good Indian Girls
1 🌟
*Sexist pervert
4. Sanskrit
1 🌟
Piss all you want. Because I am not reading this story after reading that.
Not reading the rest. DNFed.
5. Hero of the Nation
6. Solzhenitsyn in Vermont
7. Neanderthal Tongue
8. The Consul's Wife
9. Bodies Motion Sound
10. The Order of Things
11. Border Song
12. Children's Games
Read this one because
1. I had the physical copy
2. I wasted my money on it so I wanted to read it to see if it's worth the title.
Regretted it?
You bet!
*Contents:
1. The Good Poet of Africa
2 🌟
*Unlikeable character alert, perverted thoughts (not needed at all, author) and he judges everyone he meets for nothing.
*And this:
"I hated poetry - worst was Urdu poetry."
(I don't like you)
The writing is all over the place and why is the story so long for nothing?
2. The Discovery
1 🌟
*Are you trying to write porn?
*What's with the misleading representations although we know you're trying to defend the misleading misunderstanding of terrorism when it comes to some particular communities?
*Liar alert. What are you trying to prove?
*Big words, misleading presentation
3. Good Indian Girls
1 🌟
*Sexist pervert
4. Sanskrit
1 🌟
Piss all you want. Because I am not reading this story after reading that.
Not reading the rest. DNFed.
5. Hero of the Nation
6. Solzhenitsyn in Vermont
7. Neanderthal Tongue
8. The Consul's Wife
9. Bodies Motion Sound
10. The Order of Things
11. Border Song
12. Children's Games
November 18, 2013
I received this book as a Goodreads First Read. As a fan of travel literature and of Indian culture, I thought the prospect of short stories focused on contemporary Indian American characters opened up great potential. Many of the stories in this collection are great. "Children's Games" is reminiscent of "Lord of the Flies," and "Neanderthal Tongues" presents a very interesting and original concept: a narrative from the perspective of the scattered remains of a bombing victim. That being said, there were a few stories here that were just a little too weird for me. "Sanskrit" is constantly on the border of the absurd, and "The Discovery" seems Kafka-esque in its constant paranoid confusion, but for me that didn't translate into any kind of coherent narrative. Overall, the stories that are good here are very good, and personally, I feel that they more than make up for the ones that are less accessible.
November 3, 2013
This is an outstanding first collection. Restless, surprising, full of unexpected turns. Sidhu's is a refreshing new voice, not at all beholden to convention, especially those of south asian diaspora literature. There's no easy moral center here, no comfort in what is right. Instead there is a grey world of ambiguous intention, unsure judgment, and wild response to the niceties of proper behavior. At turns fun, disturbing, philosophical and just plain morbid, this book will make you think and feel. Get it. Read it
February 24, 2023
I was elated to discover that Sidhu shares the same views on Indian women as all the (white) reviewers who said that this book was free of clichés and stereotypes! This book is chalk-full of orientalist and misogynist rhetoric that casts Indian women as submissive, sexually deviant sl*ts who have little to no character traits besides the fact that they constantly fixate on men’s cocks. Don’t get me started on the disgusting, vomit-inducing incest plotline that actually made me throw my copy down in frustration. I am 99% sure that the author of this raging dumpster fire was jerking himself off WHILE writing (similar to many of the male protagonists who can’t seem to keep their hands off of their penises). TL;DR: Freud would have loved this extensive report on phallic imagery.
August 20, 2017
Yes, definitely an unconventional author of Indian origin. A little too sex-obsessed in my opinion. Only a couple of the short stories really held my attention. meh
January 2, 2023
genuinely just uncomfortable and awful to read
January 23, 2015
I must start by saying that I expected a lot from this collection. I rented it from my library, quite happily, and read it over one day. I am disappointed to say the very, very least.
Women in modern day society have very little representation in the media. Of the women who do, Indian women make up virtually none of that (when was the last time you saw an Indian girl on a T.V. show or movie that didn't fixate on her being Indian? New Girl, is all that comes to mind). When given representation, most of the time it revolves around stero-types (angry Latina, quiet Asian, very religious Indian etc.)or it focuses the entirely on the race. So, when a writer decides to focus on a (two times) marginalized group of people it needs to be good.
The sexism is this novel is palpable and rampant. Since it's a series of short stories, this can't be blamed on a misogynistic-flawed main character. Spoilers ahead.
I need to apologize-I didn't buy the book (rented from the library), and I've already returned it, so I can't quote/reference it word for word.
The most blatant sexism is in a chapter about a "sad" girl (you're never given much of an explanation as to why she's sad). This girl is dissatisfied with life. She has one friend, that she isn't sure is really her friend for any reason other than convenience. She only has two goals in life (explicitly stated in the first paragraph)one of which is to fall in love. She proceeds to go to a class where she meets a man, who she is very interested in. Their first date, which takes place in her apartment, he comes over to her house. He is a serial killer, and explains to her that he intends to kill her. Learning this, she does not fight. She does not resist, and in fact, she is even excited! Oh, how beautiful he'll make her look in death! And he's so cute! And she wants to be good for this man! She wants him to be happy-after all, she loves him! This is the jist of why she's cool dying by this guy's hands (literary, he's going to strangle her, then make a video of her dead face, which he'll post on the internet). Now, if it had been implied that she was suicidal, some of these details could be over looked, but that isn't the case. Sidhu makes it clear that she is unhappy, but he does nothing to indicate that she is unhappy to this degree. He also writes the male killer to be a rather plain person, who certainly doesn't warrant the level of admiration the character gives him.
Other stories aren't as bad, but still have excessive amounts of penis envy. Every single chapter mentions, at least once, a throbbing, or otherwise noticeable penis. Regardless of intent, it leaves the reader feeling that all of the women in this book can't help but notice cocks. From the older woman who gets herself off with a snake slithering over her naked body to the woman who gets pregnant with a baby she doesn't want, but keeps, because why not (there's no deliberation, no consideration for any of her options, but also no excitement, or happiness for deciding to keep her son either)there are throbbing penises, and penis imagery. The women in these stories also perpetuate many common tropes. The woman who wants nothing but the admiration of a man (the girl who is excited to get killed), the "bad" woman with daddy issues (a girl who gets pregnant and moves), the perfect homemaker (a woman who makes everywhere a home, since her husband must move constantly for work. This is the same woman who gets herself off with a snake) and the list goes on.
These stories are well written, and interesting, however, I could not over look the sexism. Women do not live, and breathe for the admiration/attention/entertainment of men. We are not objects, toys, and we have our own thoughts, opinions, goals, and struggles. Whether or not Sidhu knows this-I do not know. One's writing is not always a direct translation to one's views. It's possible he has very progressive views, and just had difficulty writing them. Writing from the perspective of a gender you do not identify as is not always easy, however, Sidhu did not succeed. I would recommend talking with more women, and reading more books written from the perspective of a women before trying to tackle cross gender writing again.
Women in modern day society have very little representation in the media. Of the women who do, Indian women make up virtually none of that (when was the last time you saw an Indian girl on a T.V. show or movie that didn't fixate on her being Indian? New Girl, is all that comes to mind). When given representation, most of the time it revolves around stero-types (angry Latina, quiet Asian, very religious Indian etc.)or it focuses the entirely on the race. So, when a writer decides to focus on a (two times) marginalized group of people it needs to be good.
The sexism is this novel is palpable and rampant. Since it's a series of short stories, this can't be blamed on a misogynistic-flawed main character. Spoilers ahead.
I need to apologize-I didn't buy the book (rented from the library), and I've already returned it, so I can't quote/reference it word for word.
The most blatant sexism is in a chapter about a "sad" girl (you're never given much of an explanation as to why she's sad). This girl is dissatisfied with life. She has one friend, that she isn't sure is really her friend for any reason other than convenience. She only has two goals in life (explicitly stated in the first paragraph)one of which is to fall in love. She proceeds to go to a class where she meets a man, who she is very interested in. Their first date, which takes place in her apartment, he comes over to her house. He is a serial killer, and explains to her that he intends to kill her. Learning this, she does not fight. She does not resist, and in fact, she is even excited! Oh, how beautiful he'll make her look in death! And he's so cute! And she wants to be good for this man! She wants him to be happy-after all, she loves him! This is the jist of why she's cool dying by this guy's hands (literary, he's going to strangle her, then make a video of her dead face, which he'll post on the internet). Now, if it had been implied that she was suicidal, some of these details could be over looked, but that isn't the case. Sidhu makes it clear that she is unhappy, but he does nothing to indicate that she is unhappy to this degree. He also writes the male killer to be a rather plain person, who certainly doesn't warrant the level of admiration the character gives him.
Other stories aren't as bad, but still have excessive amounts of penis envy. Every single chapter mentions, at least once, a throbbing, or otherwise noticeable penis. Regardless of intent, it leaves the reader feeling that all of the women in this book can't help but notice cocks. From the older woman who gets herself off with a snake slithering over her naked body to the woman who gets pregnant with a baby she doesn't want, but keeps, because why not (there's no deliberation, no consideration for any of her options, but also no excitement, or happiness for deciding to keep her son either)there are throbbing penises, and penis imagery. The women in these stories also perpetuate many common tropes. The woman who wants nothing but the admiration of a man (the girl who is excited to get killed), the "bad" woman with daddy issues (a girl who gets pregnant and moves), the perfect homemaker (a woman who makes everywhere a home, since her husband must move constantly for work. This is the same woman who gets herself off with a snake) and the list goes on.
These stories are well written, and interesting, however, I could not over look the sexism. Women do not live, and breathe for the admiration/attention/entertainment of men. We are not objects, toys, and we have our own thoughts, opinions, goals, and struggles. Whether or not Sidhu knows this-I do not know. One's writing is not always a direct translation to one's views. It's possible he has very progressive views, and just had difficulty writing them. Writing from the perspective of a gender you do not identify as is not always easy, however, Sidhu did not succeed. I would recommend talking with more women, and reading more books written from the perspective of a women before trying to tackle cross gender writing again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2014
These stories range widely in tone and topic, but they are mostly tales of (sub-continental) Indians in the U.S. -- stories of diaspora. Sidhu writes sharp prose, and his characters are often angry and despairing, though dark humor creeps in at the edges. The stories also succeed in setting their characters against history -- often the turbulent history of India, including the nation's partition (notably the division of the Punjab) and the 1984 attack on the Sikh Golden Temple.
September 12, 2014
I really disliked this collection of short stories. I am not particularly squeamish and I've been known to enjoy reading about some very unpleasant protagonists, but the characters in these stories were either despicable or pathetically passive. I didn't care about any of them. The stories left me feeling queasy--definitely not my cup of tea.
June 25, 2016
This is a dark and at times, disturbing collection of short stories. Mostly the author deals with the experiences of Indian immigrants to America, but these aren't the normal "clash of cultures" stories. He uses fantastic elements to make the reader feel a sense of alienation--the same way most of the characters feel. All twelve stories in this collection are strong and definitely worth reading.
December 29, 2013
A few very good stories, and a few I didn't really enjoy that much. A lot of "sexual" content that I really wasn't expecting. Oft times funny, they are an honest poignant look people's lives in sometimes weird and strange circumstances.
December 20, 2013
A mixed bag for me, as many collections of short stories seem to be, with some of the stories being very enjoyable and others just not making a connection with me. Well worth reading, and I will certainly read more from this author.
August 12, 2016
**First Reads winner**
September 29, 2016
Literary stories. Meh. In a lot of them he's trying for magical realism, but doesn't have the chops to pull it off. The last few stories were better, but not enough to redeem the book.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews