China is booming. The wealth being created is otherworldly and so is the lifestyle of the country’s super-rich. But the gossiping, scheming and back-biting has been kept under wraps until now, with the release of Kevin Kwan’s new satirical novel Crazy Rich Asians — set to become the most talked about book of the summer.
What a trip. That’s how Kevin Kwan, who will be back in Toronto this fall, explains the extravagant lives of particular Chinese families. His flashy fictional tale is a story inspired by his own life, having been born in Singapore and raised in the U.S.
“It’s how do you describe these people,” he says of the book title and its subjects. “Are they very rich, are they filthy rich or are they crazy rich? In many ways, ‘crazy’ is the most appropriate word.”
The book focuses on the exorbitant wealth that exists among Chinese family dynasties. But just like every family, these billionaires are not exempt from the jealousy, envy and pressures that eat away at relationships.
“I thought it would be interesting to showcase this world as it clashes with the new mainland Chinese money and all the various things that are happening at this time, because Asia’s really going through a new gilded age,” he says.
Writing this book offered relief for the first-time author, who conceived the idea while spending time with his sick father. During that period, Kwan’s dad told him stories of his own childhood and reminisced with his son.
“This was my escape, to be able to write something comedic and fun,” he says. Creating a story that focuses not just on money, but on the actual people and the lives affected by this great wealth is unique for the typical book available on Chinese culture.
“There’s this American-born Chinese girl, who travels around the world back to her boyfriend to Singapore,” he explains. “Being Asian-American, she thinks she knows how Asians are and how Chinese people are. And she discovers this world of very intricate, complex personalities and roles and traditions that she just had no clue, as an American, existed.”
Kwan tells of how his editor actually made him tone down some of the descriptions of the people, homes and fleets of cars and private jets because the truth was just too unbelievable. The explosion of wealth in Asia has piqued people’s interest in the Eastern continent, he says, hoping that, in addition to a fun summer read, he offers insight and education.
“These people live halfway around the world, they have these mysterious families, and yet they have the same issues of jealousy, of snobbery, of money ruining people’s lives or money making people live a lot better,” he says. “It really speaks to the universality of all of us.”