Rating: 
Summary: Hmmm...
Review: Although Mr. Prsad is considered far on the left and a radical desi, I must question his committment when he is married to a white woman? Maybe he does not see white women as oppressive imperialists? Or maybe he needs to delve further into the world of South Asian American women?? Further how much experience can one really have with racism and hierarchical institutions when one comes himself from a position of accpetance in academia? Always important to know wherer a writer is coming from.
Rating: 
Summary: Standard communist propaganda
Review: Having traced the path that he talks about (from India to the US), I find that most of what he's written to be unacceptable and full of half-truths. When you set out on a journey of this kind, the only baggage you need is an open mind; but the other has left that behind and instead brought his marxist-viewing glasses.No wonder everything he sees is so colored by the same marxist class issues. The author should realize that "garrulous verbiage=garbage", and try to stay away from wasting paper. While the author has not achieved anything of his own, he sure knows the shortcut to fame: criticizing others & policies that are successful. While he has not moved a twig for the downtrodden, he always waxes eloquent on the ill-effects of capitalism, racism, zionism, etc. I wonder what the others who've given positive reviews liked in his book !
Rating: 
Summary: Refreshing perspective on the Desi Diaspora
Review: I am a 2nd generation Desi and have run into a number of disturbing trends amongst fellow Desis and on what they tend to focus. It clarifies anomalies such as lifestyle choices. If many Desi elites are truly "successful" even if that means within the filter of white-supremacy, being a model minority, then in what is that success measured? Fiscal wealth means only so much, and even then how empowering is it, when the dream of returning to the Motherland of South Asia is never fulfilled. By relating the idea of the model minority and its place in a white supremacist society it gives more meaning to what we as diaspora can do. Not only must we dismiss racism (e.g. in it's anti-black or anti-Muslim forms) from the Hindutva, but we must go head on and attack it, namely in the sense of creating a true poly-cultural, anti-racist agenda. Vijay Prashad does criticize D'souza and Chopra as well they should be, not only for their views, but their portrayal of Desis in an American light. They are not successes, simply because they make money, or have a following. They are irrelevant. I've already chosen the life of model-minority suicide as an activist for Palestinian Solidarity and against racist agendas of Imperialism and Zionism, and as a devout (direct) democrat (not party, but ideology). This suicide means that we shoudn't even give time of day to the hierarchy that enslaves us to enslave others. We should organize ourselves and make our own wealth and our own world.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for Asian Americans
Review: I've read many many many books on Asian Americans, this is most certainly one of the best ones I have read. While being a very inspirational book in terms of showing the achievements of the South Asian American community, Prashad does not fail in offering a critical view of the community and its most notable sell-outs (Deepak Chopra and Dinesh D'Souza). I recommend this book for anyone interested in asian american studies, good for newcomers and others alike.
Rating: 
Summary: Karma of Marxist Scholars
Review: Mr. Prasad's views were a refreshing change.... Mr. Prasad's work tells it like it is and shows that even though many nonwhite immigrant groups have been successful in this country and have achieved honor and status that they, just like African-Americans and other people of color, are not above the pervasive anti-nonwhite racism that permeates this society.
Rating:
Summary: Deep and highly original analysis
Review: Remarkable work by Prashad which has quickly become a classic. This book carries out a very deep analysis of the South Asian
diaspora in the west, which helps us gain tremendous insights
into their complex condition. Read it!!!
Rating:
Summary: well-researched book designed to make you think
Review: This book's origin is based on W.E.B. DuBois' book "The Soul of Black Folk" where it poses the question "How dies it feel to be a problem?" Here the SE Asian community is asked "How does it feel to be a solution?" But there is a sardonic saracstic tone to this, and the next sentence begins the dissection of SE Asians being used as a "weapon" by white people against black people as "the model minority". The author presents more research spanning the last hundred or so years, of how INS policies filter out those SE Asians who do not hold advanced degrees, so the 'nativist white gaze' only sees techno-professionals in this group. When families are reunited -- particulary extended families --- there is a sentiment of "we onyl want your work, we do not want your lives" i.e. make your financial destiny here but don't have the rest of your lives, especially with your relatives who do not have advanced degrees and contribute to the GNP. Among SE Asians as well, the author investigates how "culture" is reinvented within America as a way of keeping first-generation descendants in line, of recognizing that anti-black racism deflects racism towards SE Asians (who still feel a brunt but not to the same extent historically). A lot of the subject matter will make the reader uncomfortable but that is mainly because it is designed to make the reader think as well. In which case, I applaud and recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Deep and highly original analysis
Review: This book's origin is based on W.E.B. DuBois' book "The Soul of Black Folk" where it poses the question "How dies it feel to be a problem?" Here the SE Asian community is asked "How does it feel to be a solution?" But there is a sardonic saracstic tone to this, and the next sentence begins the dissection of SE Asians being used as a "weapon" by white people against black people as "the model minority". The author presents more research spanning the last hundred or so years, of how INS policies filter out those SE Asians who do not hold advanced degrees, so the 'nativist white gaze' only sees techno-professionals in this group. When families are reunited -- particulary extended families --- there is a sentiment of "we onyl want your work, we do not want your lives" i.e. make your financial destiny here but don't have the rest of your lives, especially with your relatives who do not have advanced degrees and contribute to the GNP. Among SE Asians as well, the author investigates how "culture" is reinvented within America as a way of keeping first-generation descendants in line, of recognizing that anti-black racism deflects racism towards SE Asians (who still feel a brunt but not to the same extent historically). A lot of the subject matter will make the reader uncomfortable but that is mainly because it is designed to make the reader think as well. In which case, I applaud and recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for ALL south asians
Review: This is a book, that you will either love or hate--no middle ground. I personally love this book. Vijay Prashad's book provides a honest, critical analysis of south-asians in America. It is sharp in its criticsm of Hinduvata's influence in shaping Indian identity; just as keen in debunking the model minority myth. It is a superb rebuttal to D'Souza, and other neoconservatives and the ways in which white america uses south asians as weapons against blacks. Prashad draws on Orientalism of America, and how this affects the ways in which desis are viewed and the ways in which they act in the racial landscape of America. Finally, Prashad asks of desis to commit model minority suicide--something every desi needs to explore critically. This book must be read by all south asians in US, to whom it is so passionately argued; whether one agrees with Prashad's arguments or not, there is something informative and worthy of consideration for desis of all political affinities. For others, it is a parochial account of the Indian immigrant experience, which makes it a bit difficult to understand, but nevertheless something you need to read and try to understand; definetely a must read for black-americans, for this book calls for a black-asian (brown) solidarity that is worth exploring. The fate (Karma)of ALL brown folks in white america, needs to be shaped by such a solidarity. I especially recommend this book to South Asian teens, who are caught in the midst of finding their identities, and jumbling to reconcile desiness with their americaness.
Rating:
Summary: "We want your work, we don't want your lives."
Review: This should be required reading for indians living in the US. Whether you agree or not with all of the opinions it helps create positive discussion (including an explanation of why such a large percentage Indians in the US have fared so well financially). It also helps place South Asians in the context of US social order--where one's status often revolves around money and race. The book is worth reading if only for its scathing review of deepak chopra :)
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