Customer Reviews

An Indian in Cowboy Country: Stories from an Immigrant's Life

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3 star:		(1)
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Pradeep Anand does an excellent job of depicting the experiences and aspirations typical to most Indians immigrating to the US. I was enthralled by the fun and easy-to-read narrative and the numerous cultural tidbits that provide a look into "what makes Indians tick". In addition to telling a great story, the book is filled with pearls of wisdom on finding one's purpose in life and building a career. I learnt more about job-seeking techniques in the last two chapters of this book than I have through reading entire books devoted to this topic.

Excellent work, I bought it as a business book hoping to learn more about the people I work with, but I gained so much more. I compare this quite favorably to the novelized business book, The Goal. That book used narrative as an effective means of communicating Goldratt's management ideas, but IICC accomplished that and more because the characterization was so vivid. Mr. Anand communicated his management ideas but also managed to say something about life. The Goal is merely a business book, this is a true novel that has business as a theme. We also learn about Indian culture, life, family and courage. I'm going to recommend it to some of my b-school professors as a course reading.

I think I liked most how he advocated for his current profession as a placement consultant. I saw Satish's job search not as a means to pursue purely material ends, but rather as a person in pursuit of fulfilling employment. Clearly Mr. Anand has a passion for helping people achieve life satisfaction. Of course, proper pay, responsibility and recognition are a part of that, but they are means to that other end. It was the best advertisement he could have written for himself, but even that was not heavy-handed, it was the natural result of an author pouring his passion into the story. Well done, and the perfect message for students. I actually played a little game while reading, trying to guess with each episode how much of Satish was his personal experience, how much was based on events that happened to his acquaintances and how much was from his imagination.

I also appreciated the portrayal of Houston and Sugar Land (I live there as well). I think the word associations most people have are Houston=redneck, suburb=sterile white flight and they just aren't true at least for these communities.

To the many Indian engineers who came to the United States as graduate students and then stayed on to work, this book is practically autobiographical. Pradeep Anand describes scenes that make you ask: How did he know that about me? Reading through the book is like reliving your early years.

Pradeep vividly describes stories that make you laugh and others that make you cry. Especially poignant is the subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, discrimination that is pervasive in the work place. Pradeep shows how we Indians have had to overcome this hurdle with grace and dignity; and how, despite this handicap, we have excelled in our professional lives.

Once started, the book is difficult to put down. This book is recommended not only to the many immigrant engineers, but also to those who work along-side them.

An Indian in Cowboy Country is a great read. Pradeep Anand is a good story teller. There were many moments in the book when I felt it was my story and those of so many of my friends who came to America with great dreams and also many question marks.
The book ends on a very uplifting note which captures the essence of the promise of America: that it can truly be home to people from far away places.

The stories in this book transports you into the heart of an idealistic, imaginative and sensitive person. Every story transports you to the location and makes you feel you are there in the situation, asking your self what you will do?

The author has deftly handled complex emotions faced by immigrants in a part of the country that has been historically immune to waves of immigration unlike the West Coast and the East Coast of America. Being an immigrant from India myself and having been educated in the South I can empathise with the feelings and actions that the author has expressed so subtly.

I especially liked his story "Going Home". Here Pradeep has captured the emotions with sweet sensitivity and brings tears to your eyes. His narration is simple, evocative and sensitive.

A very good read and I highly recommend this book even for non-immigrants.

Pradeep Anand has managed to capture experiences common to all immigrants from the subcontinent. The book contains both personal and professional narratives, starting from the single minded pursuit of that elusive Green Card, to going home to find a suitable bride-that immigrants can relate to.
I found the book to be an easy read, with a simple narrative style.It even provided me some ideas about my future career choices!
I would reccommend this book to anyone interested in learning about the experiences of subcontinental immigrants in America.

Pradeep has put together a well written collection of short stories that effectively capture the experiences of the average Indian engineer who has to survive the rigors of an extremely competetive education system (IIT) and then has to try to "make it" in a foreign land. The experiences of his protagonist Satish Sharma is one that any immigrant who comes to this country will be able to identify with.
Being a Tam Bram myself, I can say that the episode "Going Home" deftly captures the emotions of returning home after a long period of time. The authors simple narrative very subtly highlights both the prejudices and glass ceilings faced by immigrants as well as the opportunities and support that can only be found in this great country. This book shows the challenges faced by an immigrant while assimilating in a new society without comprising his/her core identity.
A great read for anyone interested on an immigrant's perspective.

pradeep anand has brought forth in a most candid manner, the trials and tribulations of an indian engineer's journey in the texas oil patch- elegantly enumerating the subtle rascicm and the prevalence of glass ceiling in the work place.
a must read for asian indian children.
prakash r. panday

For those of you who like to read books titled about India here is one author who has brought out a nice piece of fiction combined with his personal experiences as an immigrant. I found the book very captivating with coherent narration and perpetual flow of ideas especially in the chapters "Pilgrimage", "Going Home" and "Bride hunting in India ". Growing up in India during the time frame that is mentioned in the book and now living in Texas and with similar interests I can relate with the anecdotes. The writer has brought out some core details of "Boy meeting girl" Indian tradition that is funny and factual. Many Indian immigrants can recount their experiences through this gripping fiction and the storyline that the author has explicitly brought out in the book.

When I read the first chapter, I was hooked. I thought I would be in for a roller coaster adventure of the life of immigrants. I was wrong. This story started out strong but failed to keep my drawn. Throughout the novel I felt it had a decent plot but was lacking depth in the character. Overall I thought this book was okay, more or less the same run-of-the-mill immigrant story.