Suburban Sahibs

by S. Mitra Kalita

Book Overview

From movie theaters showing the songs and gyrations of "Bollywood" to valedictorians named Patel and Shah, signs are everywhere that Middlesex County, New Jersey is home to one of the largest Indian populations in the world outside India. By tracing the migration of three families, this book delves into how immigration has altered the American suburb, and how the suburb, in turn, has altered the immigrant.

In this updated edition, journalist...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813536650
• ISBN13: 9780813536651
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

a multi-generational perspective on immigration

it reads like a novel but you come away actually learning something. by the end of the book, i felt like i had really gotten to know each of the characters, the place they lived and gotten some real insight into a community.

For residents of Edison and beyond ...

Growing up in Middlesex County in the 1980s and early 1990s, I was always curious about the seemingly sudden and rapid entrance of Patels, Mehtas, and Guptas into my community. Where did they come from? How could they leave their families and their native country? Why did they choose 'here?' Why did 'our' stores on Oak Tree Road close? Kalita's 'Suburban Sahibs' provides that much needed insight with an eloquent and expressive narrative that should be required reading for anyone of any ethnicity living in Middlesex County now or then.

A beautiful and honest look into the immigrant experience.

Kalita evokes a sense of familiarity with the families while taking the reader through a breadth of immigrant experience. The writer tells a story of nonfiction with candor that is at once tender and witty. A must read for anyone with a desire to look through the window into the immigrant experience -- an experience rife with turmoil and triumph.