At the Aicon Gallery in Manhattan.
By The American Bazaar Staff
NEW YORK: Actor, comedian and writer Aasif Mandvi’s debut book ‘No Land’s Man’ will be launched at the Aicon Gallery in Manhattan, on November 3rd.
Organized by The Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC), the launch comprises of a reading of excerpts of Mandvi’s book by four actors, music by Gold Spot, a Q&A with Mandvi and a surprise moderator, a wine reception as well as book sales and signing, according to a press release.
When someone asks Mandvi where he’s from–the answer is complicated: a baby born in Bombay, a boy raised in northern England, a teenager transplanted to Florida, and now as a man living in New York.
In No Land’s Man, his first collection of personal essays, Mandvi reveals the many, and often contradictory, layers of identity that make up who he has become today. From boarding school bullies branding him “Curry Pot” and casting directors passing him over for not being “Indian” enough, to reading the Koran at a bible study group during college, and developing a character that came to eclipse his own as a correspondent on The Daily Show With John Stewart, his life has become his source of both confusion and inspiration.
In No Land’s Man he embarks on a complex journey that will be familiar to anyone who has had to make his or her way in the murky space between a person and his past.
A mix of humorous stories, heartfelt observations, and misfit mayhem, No Land’s Man is a quintessentially American story-a laugh-out-loud account of a second-generation immigrant’s search for meaning and identity in an increasingly confusing world.
Mandvi is a correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. As a writer, Mandvi is the recipient of the 1999 OBIE award for his critically acclaimed play, Sakina’s Restaurant, which was performed and conceived by Mandvi, and was adapted into the film, Today’s Special.
Some of his theater credits include the Broadway revival of Oklahoma!, as well as Homebody/Kabul, Suburbia, and Disgraced. His film credits include Premium Rush, The Proposal, The Last Airbender, The Internship, and Million Dollar Arm. Mandvi’s television credits include Jericho, Curb Your Enthusiasm, E.R, Sleeper Cell and HBO’s upcoming The Brink, on which he also serves as writer and producer. He lives and works in New York City.