{"product_id":"book-vzc8","title":"Optional Practical Training","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn elegantly inventive debut novel that offers a sharp new take on the immigrant story in post–9\/11 America.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTold as a series of conversations, \u003ci\u003eOptional Practical Training\u003c\/i\u003e follows Pavitra, a young Indian woman who came to the US for college from Bangalore, India, and graduates in 2006 with a degree in physics. Her student visa grants her an extra twelve months in the country for work experience―a period known as Optional Practical Training―so she takes a position as a math and physics teacher at a private high school near Cambridge, Massachusetts.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat Pavitra really wants, though, is the time and space to finish a novel―to diverge from what’s expected of her within her family of white–collar professionals and to build a life as a writer. Navigating her year of OPT―looking for a room to rent, starting her job―she finds that each person she encounters expects something from her too. As her landlord, colleagues, students, parents of her students, friends of her family, and neighbors talk to and at her, they shape her understanding of race, immigration, privilege, and herself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThroughout the book, Pavitra seems to speak very rarely; and yet, as she responds to the assumptions, insights, projections, and observations of those around her, a subtle and sophisticated portrait emerges of a young woman and aspiring artist defining a place for herself in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dreamscape","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":50571265900848,"sku":"BDvzc8","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/vzc8-Square-cover.jpg?v=1769723780","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-vzc8","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}