The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Mohabir, Rajiv. Antiman. Restless Books, 2021.

Rajiv Mohabir's memoir Antiman is a hybrid work. This means that the text straddles multiple genre divides. Some sections are written in narrative prose. Some are presented in lineated poetic forms, while others appear as prose poems. Others still offer recordings, transcriptions, and translations of Rajiv's grandmother Aji's songs and stories. For the sake of clarity, the following summary relies upon the present tense and offers a streamlined, linear mode of explanation.

Shortly after Rajiv's family immigrated to the United States, they cast off their Guyanese and Hindu heritage in order to assimilate to American culture. Because Rajiv's parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all converted to Christianity, so too did Rajiv's grandmother Aji. However, because of the close relationship Rajiv has with Aji, he understands her conversion to be more symbolic. At heart, Rajiv believes, Aji is still identifies with her spiritual and cultural past.

Because Aji is the last member of the family who speaks Guyanese Bhojpuri, Rajiv becomes desperate to hear and record her stories and songs. He fears that after she dies, they will be lost forever. Each time that he and his family travel from Chuluota, Florida to Toronto, Canada to see her, Rajiv sits with his grandmother and asks her about her past. Because his father Pap is particularly determined to deny the people, culture, and religion from which he came, Pap disapproves of and disparages Rajiv's interest in Aji's stories.

Rajiv decides to study Hindi and travel to India in order to better understand the truth of where he came from and who he is. He hopes these experiences might clarify his ancestral past. Although he does learn things about himself through his studies and travels, neither his Hindi intensive nor his travels abroad can satisfy Rajiv's longing for home and belonging.

After finishing college, Rajiv moves back to Chuluota. Although he does get closer with his sister Emily during this time, Rajiv is desperate to get out of Florida as soon as possible. The place is particularly hostile to brown queer individuals like Rajiv. Living with his parents only heightens his sense of alienation and displacement. He therefore applies to a Teaching Fellows program in New York City.

During his time in New York, Rajiv starts to create a sense of community. Teaching English as a second language at an elementary school in Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood and living in Jackson Heights are particularly influential in this regard. Meanwhile, Rajiv continues to work on his poetry and translations. One night, while visiting his friend Ryan, Rajiv has a revelation about his relationship to writing. Ryan's encouragement helps him to understand how integral poetry has always been to his identity.

Living in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens and claiming his identity as a poet helps Rajiv to find a sense of home in himself and amongst others like him.

Then one day, Rajiv's father calls to tell him that Aji has died. Because Rajiv's family has already disowned him for being gay, he decides to read a poem at Aji's funeral. He doubts that doing so could worsen his familial relationships any further. That night, Aji comes to Rajiv in a dream, granting him a sense of peace and closure. Not long later, Rajiv's mother gives him Aji's ring, which she left for him. He wears the ring on a chain around his neck as a reminder of Aji's love and acceptance.