They Called Us Exceptional: And Other Lies That Raised Us

An Indian American daughter reveals how the dangerous model minority myth&nbsp;fractured her family&nbsp;in this "searingly honest memoir that manages to be at once a scalding indictment and a heartfelt love letter" (Scott Stossel,&nbsp;author of My Age of Anxiety). ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE SEASON: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Bustle "In examining with boundless love the secrets and sorrows of one family, Gupta shows us the life-altering power of telling one's truth."--Megha Majumdar,&nbsp;author of A Burning &nbsp; How do we understand ourselves when the story about who we are supposed to be is stronger than our sense of self? What do we stand to gain--and lose--by taking control of our narrative? These questions propel Prachi Gupta's heartfelt memoir and can feel particularly fraught for immigrants and their children who live under immense pressure to belong in America.&nbsp; Prachi Gupta's family embodied the American Dream: a doctor father and a nurturing mother who raised two high-achieving children with one foot in the Indian American community, the other in Pennsylvania's white suburbia. But their belonging was predicated on a powerful myth: that Asian Americans have perfected the alchemy of middle-class life, raising tight-knit, ambitious families that are immune to hardship. Molding oneself to fit this perfect image often comes at a steep but hidden cost. In They Called Us Exceptional, Gupta articulates the dissonance, shame, and isolation of being upheld as an American success story while privately navigating traumas invisible to the outside world.&nbsp; Gupta addresses her mother throughout the book, weaving a deeply vulnerable personal narrative with history, postcolonial theory, and research on mental health, to show how she slowly made sense of her reality and freed herself emotionally and physically from the pervasive, reductive myth that had once defined her. But, tragically, the act that liberated Gupta was also the act that distanced her from those she loved most. By charting her family's slow unraveling and her determination to break the cycle, Gupta shows how traditional notions of success keep us disconnected from ourselves and one another--and passionately argues why we must orient ourselves toward compassion over belonging.

Biographies & Memoirs

Gupta, Prachi

Community & Culture

Crown

"In this vulnerable and courageous memoir, Prachi Gupta takes the myth of the exceptional Indian American family to task."--The Washington Post "I read it in one sitting. Wow. It aims right at the tender spot where racism, sexism, and family dynamics collide, and somehow manages to be both searingly honest and deeply compassionate."--Celeste Ng, New York Times bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere A SHE READS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE SEASON: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Bustle How do we understand ourselves when the story about who we are supposed to be is stronger than our sense of self? What do we stand to gain--and lose--by taking control of our narrative? Family defined the cultural identity of Prachi and her brother, Yush, connecting them to a larger Indian American community amid white suburbia. But their belonging was predicated on a powerful myth: the idea that Asian Americans, and Indian Americans in particular, have perfected the alchemy of middle-class life, raising tight-knit, high-achieving families that are immune to hardship. Molding oneself to fit this image often comes at a steep, but hidden, cost. In They Called Us Exceptional, Gupta articulates the dissonance, shame, and isolation of being upheld as an American success story while privately navigating traumas the world says do not exist. Gupta addresses her story to her mother, braiding a deeply vulnerable personal narrative with history, postcolonial theory, and research on mental health to show how she slowly made sense of her reality and freed herself from the pervasive, reductive myth that had once defined her. But tragically, the act that liberated Gupta was also the act that distanced her from those she loved most. By charting her family's slow unraveling, and her determination to break the cycle, Gupta shows how traditional notions of success keep us disconnected from ourselves and one another--and passionately argues why we must orient ourselves toward compassion over belonging.

“We are going to rock the world.” —Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Born in the Bronx and raised in the suburbs of Westchester County, New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez witnessed firsthand how a person’s zip code can shape their destiny. That early exposure to income inequality fueled a passion for change that, in turn, led her to take on—and defeat—a ten-term incumbent to become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Now a target for the right, she is an inspiration to millions of millennial voters, women of color, and progressives. A celebratory biography that tells the blow-by-blow account of AOC’s extraordinary rise from bartender to political rock star, AOC is a compelling look at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: who she is, what she stands for, and the movement that she’s energized.

AOC: Fighter, Phenom, Changemaker

Leaders & Notable People

Workman Publishing Company

Right From The Start . . . She Stole His Heart

Literature & Fiction

Contemporary

Fingerprint! Publishing

After nearly three decades of experience with Demand Side Management (DSM), controversy remains over how effective these programs have been. This book considers micro-level analyses that explore both demand-side solutions and supply-side interventions. On the demand side, models are estimated to provide in-depth evidence of end-user consumption patterns for each North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) region. The empirical evidence demonstrates that there is substantial regional variability of reductions in peak demand. These results are quite robust in the in rapidly-urbanizing regions, where air conditioning and lighting load is substantial higher. On the supply side, the effectiveness of DSM programs is estimated by analyzing the growth of capacity margin with the introduction of DSM programs. The results indicate that DSM has been successful in offsetting the need for additional capacity by the means of demand response measures, but the success is limited to only a few regions. The rate of progress in future will depend on a wide range of improved technologies and a continuous government monitoring for successful adoption of DSM to manage growing energy demand.

Demand Side Management: An Approach To Peak Load Smoothing

Science & Math

Physics

Scholar's Press

30 Shining Stars of the World

Independently published

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