Sorry for the Inconvenience: A Memoir

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars | 4,631 ratings

Price: 5.99

Last update: 11-29-2024


About this item

“Incredible…this story ripped my heart in two, had me grabbing for the tissues, and then put me back together again.” —Mindy Kaling

From a Pakistani American author comes a bracing memoir about tradition, upending expectations, and the volatility of family, friendship, and, inevitably, love.

Pakistani American Farah Naz Rishi’s first year of college was perfectly, thankfully, uneventful. After all, she was in college to learn and forge a path of self-sufficiency, especially after her last relationship fell apart—dashing her mother’s aspirations for an early marriage. What could Farah expect, anyway? For the ideal guy to just conveniently waltz into her life? Life isn’t a love story.

Enter Stephen, a Jamaican student with an open smile and a disarmingly laid-back attitude. It’s not love at first sight. And there’s no way Farah’s mother would approve of him as marriage material. But they have something better: an inexplicable connection. Through a series of impossible tragedies, grief, and trying to find her place in the world, Stephen is always there as Farah’s confidant, champion, and, most of all, best friend. Anything more could ruin a perfectly good thing…Right?

Spanning thirteen years of complex family dynamics and a surprising kinship, Farah Naz Rishi’s story explores the unpredictability of love—familial, platonic, and romantic, but never truly instant.


From the Publisher

"Simply incredible. Ripped my heart in two and put it back together." - Mindy Kaling

Mindy's Book Studio

A True Modern Love Story


Top reviews from the United States

Jenny
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect read
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2024
Sorry For The Inconvenience is a memoir by Pakistani American author Farah Naz Rishi. It focuses on Farah's college/adult life. We get to read about her friendships, her relationship with individuals from her family, her culture & religion, career, and the one positive constant in her life.

I've read a handful of memoirs, and I don't think I've ever read one that made me cry, smile, and audibly gasp so much. This was such a beautifully written story. It shed light on being Pakistani American, juggling a career knowing you're meant to do something else, and the influence your culture and religion have on your relationships.

There were so many beautiful and heartbreaking moments in this book, but the one thing that I loved so much was the impact that Stephen had on Farah. I don't want to spoil anything. Just know that this book will give you all the emotions. I absolutely adored it.
Barb B
4.0 out of 5 stars An amazing book
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2024
This book is do well written I had a hard time putting it down. Farah Naz Rishi is an excellent writer. She really uses her words effectively. You get to know, really know, the people in this memoir. The story is one of love, strength, agony, and joy. A very good book that I highly recommend.
Susy
5.0 out of 5 stars Very moving story and completely engrossing.
Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2024
I very much liked this book and read it in a day. It was really interesting learning more about the culture and family traditions of South Asian family. The author very thoughtfully reveals the little things that make us who we are as we go through childhood, teen to adulthood. I was overcome with sadness and tears the last few chapters were difficult.
cooperJ
3.0 out of 5 stars A fast just okay read
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2024
I found her memoir to be a bit confusing at times. She would speak of one thing and later say something that negates the thing she said. For example, she said her Nani Jan was insistent that the author follow certain protocols of their culture yet she then talked about Nani Jan leaving her husband with her 2 girls. I also felt she left a lot not said as she hastily ended the book. My questions were, as someone who graduated law school why wasn’t she more involved with her Dad’s estate or her mothers after she was made POA? She seemed very naive to everything happening around her and heavily relied on Stephen for everything, including looking after her brother and father while she was off doing her thing. I did not believe she did not know how Stephan felt about her and felt she was, at times, being very selfish and stringing him along. I am glad it ended well for her but I still felt like there was a lot of glossing over facts, and no real self reflection.
Book Lover Too
5.0 out of 5 stars honest riveting life story
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2024
Life can be sooo hard. What a great honest picture of life with all its twists and turns. Easy to read but difficult heart wrenching events. I felt I became part of the family and ached for Farah to have peace. I appreciated the push and pull of her culture colliding with her own wishes and hopes as I’ve experienced this in my own life. A great life story about family and love.
B Miller
4.0 out of 5 stars Real life
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2024
A First Reads pick for me, because it is a memior. It kept me engaged and didn’t disappoint. I love to read books that are real-life experiences.
Goth Gone Grey
5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely, heartfelt, and raw
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2024
I'm in a swirl of emotions finishing this book, primarily prayers for the author and everything she's been through. It's a glimpse into her Muslim life, but more about family, struggling, and survival:

"I considered myself a Muslim, albeit a shamefully clumsy one: I’d pray as often as I’d remember to; I’d fast every Ramadan, for as long as my body permitted. I’d give zakat, or charity, when the chance presented itself. But the one belief I absorbed at Sunday school, from which I never wavered, was that although we had control over our own actions, the events of life came preordained: “They were planning, and Allah was planning,” my dad would quote the Quran, “and Allah is the best of planners.” He’d mutter it sometimes—especially if we were running late for something, like a community dinner party or an interfaith panel he’d organized with local churches and synagogues."

The focus on music as a lifeline is relatable, and finding one's passion. Family is more than those related by blood, and the damage that genetic family can do.
Chan McDermott
4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging & moving
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2024
This young author has experienced so much already. Her memoir is beautifully written and insightful. It is also deeply personal and honest.

Best Sellers in

 
 

Still the Sun

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 20
5.99
 
 

Veridian Sterling Fakes It: A Novel

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 24
4.99
 
 

The Last Time I Saw You

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 405
4.99
 
 

Ruin (Gods Series Book 1)

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 6711
4.99
 
 

Summer Ever After

3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 3109
4.99
 
 

Holmes, Marple & Poe: The Greatest Crime-Solving Team of the Twenty-First Century (Holmes, Margaret & Poe Book 1)

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 8442
4.99
 
 

All We Ever Wanted: A Novel

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 16701
1.99
 
 

Drawn To Darkness (Kings Of Mafia)

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 3060
4.99