Mouth Full

“Mouth Full reflects the ongoing evolution of a refreshingly genuine and talented voice as Vikram breaks new ground with her latest collection of nonfiction works. This raw and emotional collection provides a thoroughly engaging existential journey, tackling issues as universal as gender expectations, class warfare, racism and the ethnic stigmatization of the names we bear.
Much more than an eclectic collection of essays and poetry, Mouth Full manages to speak on an intensely personal level while providing a uniquely genuine take on issues and concerns shared by so many. While Vikram’s work naturally delves heavily into the fascinating idiosyncrasies of Indian culture, it is accessible to every one of us. Her words transcend geographic and cultural lines to evaluate human nature on a global scale, making no apologies for her own introspective discoveries about herself and society along the way.
Her perspectives are at once elegant and poignant, not for any angst or hostility toward an unfair world but for an untarnished honesty and realistic consideration of those qualities which make us different. While addressing many of the darker elements of the collective psyche, the book possesses an underlying thread of optimism that encourages each of us to first embrace our struggles, then take ownership thereof.
For those facing genuine hardship, Mouth Full offers a gentle companionship and a reminder that none of us are alone. For those mired in uncertainty, it provides a firm permission to openly question that which most affects us. For the rest of us, the book offers an amusing ride, guaranteed to open eyes and shake up opinions you never knew you had.” – Craig (on Amazon)

“Some writers write to describe life and people, others to try to understand them. Sweta Vikram is in the latter camp. Her idiosyncratic voice, sometimes poetic, sometimes ornate, sometimes wonderfully blunt as she shares her perceptions, demonstrates even as she discusses it all the parts of her own immigrant and cultural journey, the India she came from and the America she has discovered in her time here. I think this would be a fascinating read for anyone interested in issues of identity and place, community, culture, and values. Speaking of her own Indian culture and personal immigrant experience, she winds up touching universal questions in a simple and moving way. She is unsparingly honest in sharing her experiences of the consequences of race and color and, particularly relevant today, of what it means to be a woman. Others have spoken of all these issues, some of them far more analytically. The value of this book is that Vikram does it with a poet’s heart, a sharing not just of thoughts but of emotions and imagination. Being of a different generation, country of origin, and life journey, I sometimes agree intensely with her insights, and sometimes don’t. I found the differences in perception good food for thought. The book is a fine Mouthful.” – Shyamala Dason (on Amazon)

“This collection of essays (with a few poems sprinkled about) gives insight into, not only Ms. Vikram’s experiences, but the experiences of immigrants, women, and those who have felt apart. Easy-to-read and beautifully written, Mouth Full is enlightening, yet unpretentious.” – Tim R. Fredrick (on Amazon).