Books
We Need More Stories like “Another Appalachia”
A 165-page memoir made me feel more seen than anything on social media.
Being Indian-American was 80% of my personality.
Growing up in a place where most people don’t look like you, that part of your identity is magnified (for better or for worse). Fixating on differences is natural.
Imagine my excitement — then subsequent disappointment — when I saw other South-Asian Americans sharing their stories, but I didn’t quite relate to any of them. Until I read Neema Avashia’s book.
A first-gen, queer, Indian-American growing up in the Southern US
My interest was already piqued by the synopsis. While Avashia lives in Boston now, she spent her formative years in the American South in a small chemical plant town in West Virginia.
I don’t believe I’m the only Indian-American to grow up in the Southern US, but the diaspora in the US is centered around mid-sized to large cities. If people picture “South Asians in the US,” they’ll imagine places like Atlanta, San Franciso, or New York…not exactly a small town in Tennessee.
And while I’m not Gujurati or queer, Avashia’s collection of essays explores so…
