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Overview

The Most Gentle People is a hybrid memoir and historical narrative about growing up Indonesian and Indonesia growing up. This story follows my reckoning with a complex inheritance, of a colonized past and the privilege it provides. This book addresses a vital gap in Asian American and postcolonial literature by re-centering the Indonesian experience within the global historical narrative. At a time when history is being revised by autocracy in the U.S. and militarism in Indonesia, this is an essential story. The manuscript is complete and is 55,000 words in length.

Gemes is a word that only exists in Indonesian. Have you ever been overcome by the intense desire to pinch a baby’s cheeks? That’s gemes. Psychologists call this phenomenon “Cute Aggression.” I wonder if the first colonists looked at us and felt a perverse sense of gemes. Were we so adorable that they had to squeeze everything out of us? From European imperial rule to a U.S.-backed dictatorship, that contorted craving lasted over three centuries. The Most Gentle People is my attempt to unravel this past and recast it in a new light. As I do so, I grapple with the parts of Indonesia that I have neglected, ignored, and, in some cases, shunned. These revelations intertwine with the loss of family, a haunting high school experience, workplace abuse, addiction, heartbreak, and, ultimately, redemption. This coming-of-age story, set against the backdrop of a misunderstood country, illustrates that the struggle to understand ourselves is inseparable from the historical forces that surround us.

Author Background

I grew up in Jakarta, before moving to D.C. for college and then New York for work. My family has its fingerprints all over Indonesia, as politicians, civil servants, businesspeople, law enforcement, and even as members of a CIA-backed rebellion. I am spiritually Muslim but culturally Jewish, which means I don’t eat pork and am very lactose intolerant. Sitting on the fence between Millennials and Gen Z, I remember dial-up internet, but can’t park my car without a backup camera. The passing of my Opa (“Grandfather”) was the catalyst for this book. He was born during the colonial period and became a successful diplomat. In addition to my lived experiences and subject matter expertise, I conducted extensive research in both Indonesia and the Netherlands, including interviews, onsite investigations, and covered substantial primary and secondary sources. Following the publishing of this book, I intend to write further regarding Indonesian and Asian American stories. I am working on my second and third novel.

What’s the Latest on My Book?

The manuscript is complete and ready.

Interested in publishing it? Please contact me: dakotasinder8@gmail.com.

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