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Overview
Of all the charming misfits on television, there’s no doubt Raj from The Big Bang Theory—the sincere yet incurably geeky Indian astrophysicist—ranks among the misfittingest. Now, we meet the actor who is every bit as loveable as the character he plays on TV. In this revealing collection of essays written in his irreverent, hilarious, and self-deprecating voice, Kunal Nayyar traces his journey from a little boy in New Delhi who mistakes an awkward first kiss for a sacred commitment, gets nosebleeds chugging Coca-Cola to impress other students, and excels in the sport of badminton, to the confident, successful actor on the set of TV’s most-watched sitcom since Friends.
Going behind the scenes of The Big Bang Theory and into his personal experiences, Kunal introduces readers to the people who helped him grow, such as his James Bond-loving, mustachioed father. Kunal also walks us through his college years in Portland, where he takes his first sips of alcohol and learns to let loose with his French, 6’8” gentle-giant roommate, works his first-ever job for the university’s housekeeping department cleaning toilets for minimum wage, and begins a series of romantic exploits that go just about as well as they would for Raj. (That is, until he meets and marries a former Miss India in an elaborate seven-day event that we get to experience in a chapter titled “My Big Fat Indian Wedding.”)
Full of heart, but never taking itself too seriously, this witty collection of underdog tales follows a young man as he traverses two continents in search of a dream, along the way transcending culture and language (and many, many embarrassing incidents) to somehow miraculously land the role of a lifetime.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781476761848 |
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Publisher: | Atria Books |
Publication date: | 07/26/2016 |
Edition description: | Reprint |
Pages: | 256 |
Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.80(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Yes, My Accent Is Real
SOMETIMES PEOPLE ASK ME, “WHY are you writing a memoir? You’re only thirty-four.”
This is not a memoir. I’m not a president, or an astronaut, or a Kardashian.
This is a collection of stories from my life.
It is not an “I was born in . . .” type of book.
I was born in London and raised in New Delhi. When I was eighteen, after maneuvering my way through a billion people and a few cows,I I moved to Portland, Oregon, where I studied business, cleaned toilets, lied my way into an IT job, and fell in love twenty-seven times. I went on to get my master’s in acting in Philadelphia, auditioned for a play in the basement of an Apple Store in New York City, and spent four hours a day commuting on a bus in Los Angeles. Somehow this crazy journey landed me on a little television show called The Big Bang Theory.
Here are some things that happened to me along the way.
I. Obligatory cow joke. The first of many.
Table of Contents
Preface 1
Everything I Know About Kissing I Learned from Winnie Cooper 3
My A-to-Z Guide to Getting Nookie in New Delhi During High School 14
Made in England 19
King of Shuttlecocks 21
Holiday Traditions Part 1: Rakhi 33
A Thought Recorded on an Aeroplane Cocktail Napkin 35
Why Being Indian Is Cool 36
Dinners with Dad 38
Dziko and Me 52
The Art of the Head Bobble 66
Garbage, Man 68
Holiday Traditions Part 2: Dussehra 74
The Forbidden Kiss 76
Chaos Theory 83
Judgment Day in Boise 85
A Thought Recorded on an Aeroplane Cocktail Napkin 97
The Girl I Went to Mass For 98
Kumar Ran a Car 103
Lollipops and Crisps 111
The Prince and the Pauper 127
How I Knew 136
Kunal's Twelve Quick Thoughts on Dating 146
Holiday Traditions Part 3: Holi 150
Nina, Why? 152
A Thought Recorded on an Aeroplane Cocktail Napkin 165
Love's Labour's Lost 166
The Waiting Period (Extended Mix) 176
James Bond and the Mouse 189
Always Joy 196
Thirteen Things I've Learned from Playing an Astrophysicist on TV 199
A Thought Recorded on an Aeroplane Cocktail Napkin 207
And Then I Fell in Love 208
Puppies 218
My Big Fat Indian Wedding 219
Holiday Traditions Part 4: Diwali 238
Good-bye 241
A Thought Recorded on an Aeroplane Cocktail Napkin 242
Acknowledgments 243