Review by lduperval -- Mock My Words by Chandra Shekhar
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lduperval
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Review by lduperval -- Mock My Words by Chandra Shekhar
[Following is a volunteer review of "Mock My Words" by Chandra Shekhar.]
Mock My Words by Chandra Shekhar follows the intertwined lives of three people: David Tan, a university professor; his wife Laura, a PR firm representative; and Melissa, a student. David is the author of two successful books. He and Laura met during the promotional tour for his first book. They fell in love and got married.
Although he writes extremely well, David has great difficulty expressing himself in English. (The way his spoken English is written reminded me of Jackie Chan in his first movies.) He is such a great writer that John Steinbeck University hired him to teach classical English literature. However, his poor mastery of the spoken language creates more problems than he bargained for, whether with the students or his colleagues.
Laura is the head of a team working on a disastrous PR mess. Her firm's biggest client has suffered a major data breach, and it has been poorly handled. She wants to salvage the situation, but she is given a team of colleagues who are barely out of school. It's as if her superiors have decided to sacrifice her for the company's failure. As Laura spends evenings and weekends trying to figure out how the breach occurred, she finds out more than she bargained for about her, David, and her firm.
How does Melissa fit into all of this? As part of his work duties, David must tutor students. Melissa comes to him to discuss a project that she hopes will revolutionize the world. David has to find a way to help her, even if he knows very little about business.
Mock My Words is well written. I liked the pace and enjoyed the dialogue. Shekhar describes well. The tension between Laura and David is palpable throughout the book. David's milquetoast approach and demeanor are often in conflict with Laura's fiery temperament. They are a good illustration of “opposites attract.”
I went through the book in less than a week. I needed to know what happened next. It doesn't hurt that the book is a mix of things I enjoy: communications, personal conflict, and IT. If you don't enjoy IT much, no worries: it's not very technical. I think it's very understandable even to the uninitiated.
The book contains profanity, but it is consistent with the working environment and the personality of the characters. I didn't find it gratuitous. It contains many discussions of intimacy, but no erotic content per se. It's a very good book. There were few mistakes. It is the kind of book that makes me enjoy the act of reading. Even the chapter titles were intriguing. Chapters with titles such as “David writes a suggestive email,” “Laura breaks her jaw,” and “Melissa gets a feeler” had me wondering where the story was heading.
The characters were very believable. Chandra Shekhar's writing gave an identifiable voice to each person. There is an unconventional mix of cultures that I found interesting: Chinese, American, Indian, and Lebanese must find a way to coexist. Part of the story revolves around David's relationship with his father. The older Tan disapproves of David's marriage to an American woman. Anyone who has lived through a mixed-race relationship will surely relate.
I recommend Mock My Words to people who like stories in business settings, are not looking for a lot of action but enjoy human drama. I think it will be even more enjoyable for second-generation immigrants. I give it four out of four stars.
******
Mock My Words
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Mock My Words by Chandra Shekhar follows the intertwined lives of three people: David Tan, a university professor; his wife Laura, a PR firm representative; and Melissa, a student. David is the author of two successful books. He and Laura met during the promotional tour for his first book. They fell in love and got married.
Although he writes extremely well, David has great difficulty expressing himself in English. (The way his spoken English is written reminded me of Jackie Chan in his first movies.) He is such a great writer that John Steinbeck University hired him to teach classical English literature. However, his poor mastery of the spoken language creates more problems than he bargained for, whether with the students or his colleagues.
Laura is the head of a team working on a disastrous PR mess. Her firm's biggest client has suffered a major data breach, and it has been poorly handled. She wants to salvage the situation, but she is given a team of colleagues who are barely out of school. It's as if her superiors have decided to sacrifice her for the company's failure. As Laura spends evenings and weekends trying to figure out how the breach occurred, she finds out more than she bargained for about her, David, and her firm.
How does Melissa fit into all of this? As part of his work duties, David must tutor students. Melissa comes to him to discuss a project that she hopes will revolutionize the world. David has to find a way to help her, even if he knows very little about business.
Mock My Words is well written. I liked the pace and enjoyed the dialogue. Shekhar describes well. The tension between Laura and David is palpable throughout the book. David's milquetoast approach and demeanor are often in conflict with Laura's fiery temperament. They are a good illustration of “opposites attract.”
I went through the book in less than a week. I needed to know what happened next. It doesn't hurt that the book is a mix of things I enjoy: communications, personal conflict, and IT. If you don't enjoy IT much, no worries: it's not very technical. I think it's very understandable even to the uninitiated.
The book contains profanity, but it is consistent with the working environment and the personality of the characters. I didn't find it gratuitous. It contains many discussions of intimacy, but no erotic content per se. It's a very good book. There were few mistakes. It is the kind of book that makes me enjoy the act of reading. Even the chapter titles were intriguing. Chapters with titles such as “David writes a suggestive email,” “Laura breaks her jaw,” and “Melissa gets a feeler” had me wondering where the story was heading.
The characters were very believable. Chandra Shekhar's writing gave an identifiable voice to each person. There is an unconventional mix of cultures that I found interesting: Chinese, American, Indian, and Lebanese must find a way to coexist. Part of the story revolves around David's relationship with his father. The older Tan disapproves of David's marriage to an American woman. Anyone who has lived through a mixed-race relationship will surely relate.
I recommend Mock My Words to people who like stories in business settings, are not looking for a lot of action but enjoy human drama. I think it will be even more enjoyable for second-generation immigrants. I give it four out of four stars.
******
Mock My Words
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Vanished by Pejay Bradley
