... A young man about twenty-five, an Indian by his features, but fair-skinned ... he wore dark glasses, a scowl, and a beard of the kind that in recent years made airport security pull you out of line and frisk you. p. 4 It was a time when certain people were eyed with suspicion in shopping malls and movie theaters; when officials showed up at workplaces or even homes to ask questions; (his mother) gave a rueful sigh of relief and told her friends when they came over for chai that perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing her son was so American. p. 28