Book Review - This American Woman: A One-in-a-Billion Memoir, by Zarna Garg

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

“Excuse me,” said one of those early 2000s women whose name could be Brittany or Amber or Tiffany, “but are you even a student here?”

“Me?” I said. “No.”

“Why are you in our group meeting?” said Bramfany.

Everyone stared at me.

“I just think it’s interesting,” I said.

“It is interesting,” said Bramfany. “Don’t you think that if business school is so interesting, you should apply to business school and pay for business school?” 

“Oh, no, I can’t pay for school again. I already have a law degree.”

“Oh, for India?” she said, like I had a degree for a dollhouse.

“No, no, I’m licensed to practice law in the state of New York.”

“So again, why are you, a lawyer, hanging out with business school students?”

What was wrong with me? Was I really this misdirected?

Zarna Garg never imagined that her interesting way of observing the world around her could evolve into a successful career in comedy after moving to the U.S. and getting her law degree.

Official synopsis:

Throughout Zarna’s whole childhood in India, everyone called her “so American” just for reading the newspaper, having deep thoughts, and talking back to anyone over the age of thirty. When Zarna’s dad tried to marry her off at age fourteen, Zarna fled—first to the streets of Mumbai and ultimately to the glittering paradise of Akron, Ohio, where she got to become American for real.

On Zarna’s very American quest to find herself and her calling, she threw herself wholeheartedly into roles like dog-bite lawyer, crazy perfectionist stay-at-home mom, Indian matchmaker, prizewinning screenwriter, and more. It wasn’t until a dare led her to a stand-up comedy open mic that Zarna finally found her spiritual home: getting paid cold hard cash for her big fat mouth.

And as Zarna discovered, after surviving the brutal streets of Mumbai, the cutthroat world of stand-up comedy is nothing.

Zarna is a much later child in her parents’ lives, which doesn’t stand out to her much until her siblings are grown, married, and out of the house,and her mother dies, making her marriage (at age 14) her father’s next goal. While it was certainly more traumatic at the time, her retelling of the story in this amusing memoir gives a great sample of Zarna’s humor, since she obviously survived.

The story of Zarna’s marriage, parenting, and evolution of careers was inspiring and entertaining. The story earned 3 out of 5 stars, and her other books would probably prove equally amusing. This (and most likely her other books) could be recommended to those who enjoy parenting stories, books about realized dreams, and stories about Indian cultures and people.

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliate link - hardcover is 53% off, as of this writing!}

Becki Bayley is a woman whom her husband says is awesome. He questions whether there is anything else. See what they’re up to on her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.