MEN LIKE OURS
From a brilliant new voice in fiction, a darkly comic and moving story about death, life, and community in a South Asian suburban enclave of New Jersey.
When Matthew Pillai is found dead, slumped over the wheel of his BMW, the women of Willow Road are roped into the investigation of their friend’s death.
At the center of the case are the Sharmas—Anita, a widow whose late husband introduced Matthew to the neighborhood, and her boundary-pushing daughter, Leila, who called him Uncle. To Anita, who has been in freefall since her arrival in the United States as a young woman,
From a brilliant new voice in fiction, a darkly comic and moving story about death, life, and community in a South Asian suburban enclave of New Jersey.
When Matthew Pillai is found dead, slumped over the wheel of his BMW, the women of Willow Road are roped into the investigation of their friend’s death.
At the center of the case are the Sharmas—Anita, a widow whose late husband introduced Matthew to the neighborhood, and her boundary-pushing daughter, Leila, who called him Uncle. To Anita, who has been in freefall since her arrival in the United States as a young woman, Matthew’s presence offered hope, including a promise of betterment for Leila. The truth, however, is far stranger.
In this darkly funny debut, the women of Willow Road find that despite their internecine quarrels, casual backstabbing, and generational feuds, in the end, there is no one to turn to but each other.
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Hardcover
- May 2026
- 384 Pages
- 9781639735228
Buy the Book
$28.99
About Bindu Bansinath
Bindu Bansinath is a senior writer for New York Magazine‘s The Cut. Men Like Ours is her debut novel. She lives in Jersey City.
Praise
“Painfully funny… [Men Like Ours] announces Bansinath, who is a staff writer for New York magazine’s The Cut, as a genuine and offbeat talent…she’s a great noticer, even if the thing noticed is merely the glory of, let’s say, a turkey hoagie from Wawa. But she’s especially attuned to disorder and rot and chaos. Like the writers Ottessa Moshfegh and Tony Tulathimutte, she is dialed in to the aesthetics of disgust.” ―New York Times
“Bansinath is an impressive storyteller . . . Readers will be engrossed by this clear-eyed and explosive tale.” ―Publishers Weekly, starred review
“This darkly funny satire threaded with a subtle murder mystery is thoughtful and unflinching . . . Bansinath’s frank and sardonic insights into immigrant experiences within the walls of an insular community are complexly entertaining.” ―Booklist
“Men Like Ours is a wonderful debut, a witty narrative following an amateur murder investigation in a South Asian enclave in New Jersey. On Willow Road, a group of women band together to solve the murder of a friend, and wade into a world of generational feuds, friendly backstabbings, and, possibly, an even deeper sense of community. Possibly.” —Crimereads, “Most Anticipated”
“Bindu Bansinath has written the most promising debut I’ve read in decades. With humor dryer than an Englishman’s martini and darker than a moonless night, she delivers a pitch perfect howl against the patriarchy, alongside the portrait of a community in crisis as vivid and complicated as anything out of Morrison or Naipaul.” ―Gary Shteyngart, New York Times bestselling author of Our Country Friends