Unaccustomed Earth- Lahiri

Lahiri writes beautifully and this book is no exception. These are short stories on American raised desis and their experiences in the United States. Generally, I love her work and for what it is I love it. I do however wish she would write beyond her standard fall backs. Almost all her characters are PhDs or dating PhDs, they all go to high end ivy leagues, all of them marry White Americans with very Ango names, and all of them just dont get their parents or the culture they once had. ALL OF THEM. Which tires me since Namesake was similar as well. She could have one where two desis fall in love (well she sort of does at the end but still...), or what the others outside of PhD people are up to. My favorite was her first short story because it was poignant and well told and I loved the ending. I loved Hell-Heaven. I thought the story of yearning for love was so poignant and the ending was both shocking and touching. The three part trilogy of Hema and Kaushik was good too but it took me thinking about it the day after to truly appreciate it for its depth. The ending leaves you angry, but then later you realize that ***warning spoiler*** his death in some ways implies to me this story was more than a 'love story' (which it was a weak love story in my opinion), but more so an example of the many ordinary people who died in the Tsunami and the lives they led. In some ways as I ponder the story more and more it might just become my favorite story.