Rakesh Satyal’s No One Can Pronounce My Name Selected as the 2018 Community Read

“A Novel Idea”, the largest community read program in the state of Oregon, celebrates its 15th year with Rakesh Satyal’s book No One Can Pronounce My Name. Last year nearly 7,000 county residents read, discussed and attended free cultural and author events at the Library’s six branches and at partnering organizations.

“The 2018 ‘A Novel Idea’ selection follows in the footsteps of previous selections by taking us to new places while exploring new cultures,” says Communications & Development Manager Chantal Strobel. “Satyal’s book explores the immigrant experience while using humor in a touching way to delve into a variety of issues. I think readers will appreciate the levity he brings to timely topics.”

Strobel says the program provides Deschutes County residents with a common forum in which they can discuss ideas, discover culture, create art and explore similarities and differences in a safe and neutral environment.

“A Novel Idea” kicks off on Saturday, April 14, 2018 at the Downtown Bend Library. This event will be followed by three weeks of programs that explore and expound upon the themes and ideas found in No One Can Pronounce My Name. The programming culminates with a free presentation by author Rakesh Satyal on Sunday, May 6, at 4:00 p.m. at Bend High School. Free tickets are required for his talk; they will be made available to the public on April 21 online and in all Deschutes Public Libraries. Free book club kits are available upon request—and while supplies last—by calling 541-312-1032.

Rakesh Satyal’s No One Can Pronounce My Name is a distinctive, funny, and insightful look into the lives of people who must reconcile the strictures of their culture and traditions with their own dreams and desires. This tender multigenerational story about immigrants and outsiders takes place in Ohio and follows the lives of several Indian Americans as they struggle with issues of identity, connection and loss while straddling the divide between Eastern and Western cultures.

About the Author: Rakesh Satyal

Rakesh Satyal is the author of Blue Boy, which won the 2000 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Debut Fiction and the 2010 Prose/Poetry Award from the Association of Asian American Studies. Satyal was a recipient of a 2010 Fellowship in Fiction from the New York Foundation for the Arts and two fellowships from the Norman Mailer Writers’ Colony. His writing has appeared in New York magazine, Vulture, Out magazine, and The Awl. A graduate of Princeton University, he has taught in the publishing program at New York University and has been on the advisory committee for the annual PEN World Voices Festival. He lives in Brooklyn.