Series: Book 1 in the Crazy Rich Asians Trilogy series
Rating: ****
Tags: Contemporary Women, Family Life, Asian American, Literary, Retail, Humor, Nook, Fiction, Lang:en
Summary
A hilarious and heartwarming
New York Times bestselling novel—
now a major motion picture!
When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in
Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a
humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to
marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key
details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace;
two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars;
and three, that he just happens to be the country’s
most eligible bachelor.
** Kwan’s debut is a scintillating fictional look into
the opulent lives of fabulously wealthy Chinese expats living
in Singapore. Economics professor Rachel Chu has no idea what
she’s in for when her handsome boyfriend, Nicholas
Young, invites her to join him at his best friend’s
wedding in Singapore. Rachel is excited to meet Nick’s
friends and family, but he fails to warn her about the social
minefield she’s about to cross. Nick’s mother,
Eleanor, jets off to Shenzhen to investigate Rachel’s
background, while friends and family gossip openly about her
at a gathering hosted by Nick’s grandmother. When
Rachel is invited to the bride’s bachelorette
party—which includes a ride on a private jet and a stay
at a luxury hotel—it becomes clear that these are young
women with designs on Nick who will do just about anything to
scare Rachel off. From its delightful opening scene onward,
this sleek social satire offers up more than a few hilarious
moments as it skewers the crafty, rich schemers who populate
its pages. --Kristine Huntley “A dizzily shopaholic comedy. . . . Wickedly
delectable. . . . Offers refreshing nouveau voyeurism to
readers who long ago burned out on American and English
aspirational fantasies. . . . Hilarious.”
“An unputdownably funny, original, modern novel. . .
. I actually couldn't put this book down to eat or to watch
Downton Abbey.”
“Like
Dynasty on steroids with more private jets, bigger
houses, and a lot more money.”
“This 48-karat beach read is crazy fun.”
—*Entertainment Weekly*
On Nick’s arm, Rachel may as well have a target
on her back the second she steps off the plane, and soon, her
relaxed vacation turns into an obstacle course of old money,
new money, nosy relatives, and scheming social climbers.From Booklist
Review
—Janet Maslin,
The New York Times
“It’s impossible not to get sucked into
this satirical novel about the jet-setting lives of an
enormous busybody family and its infinite Louboutin
collection.”
—
Glamour
“There’s rich, there’s filthy rich,
and then there’s
crazy rich. . . . A
Pride and Prejudice-like send-up.”
—People
“If this isn’t the funniest book so far
this year, it’s up there. . . . Kwan, who grew up in
Singapore, skewers his subjects deftly, stylishly, and
completely—but with heart.”
—
The Denver Post
“Deliciously decadent. . . . This 48-karat beach
read is crazy fun. . . . [Read]
Crazy Rich Asians, on an exotic beach in
super-expensive sunglasses.”
—
Entertainment Weekly
—Plum Sykes, author of
Bergdorf Blondes
“Rachel’s squeaky-clean naiveté is a
clever foil to the intricate workings of the high-glamour
Asian set around her. Chinese on the outside but all-American
on the inside, she allows us to see the myriad nuances of
intra-Asian culture that the novel goes to great lengths to
show.”
—Tash Aw, NPR
“Rollicking. . . . A lively, generous story of
shallow extravagance and human devotion.”
—
The Boston Globe
“Original and fun,
Crazy Rich Asians is quite a roller coaster trip. I
loved it!”
—Jackie Collins, author of
The Power Trip
“Delightfully soapy. . . . [
Crazy Rich Asians] eats its chiffon cake and has it
too, simultaneously tut-tutting many of its characters for
their vapid materialism while reveling in the milieu’s
sybaritic excess.”
—
The Wall Street Journal
“As spicily adventurous
and lusciously satisfying as the renowned
Singaporean street food Kevin Kwan’s
characters argue over; hot and sizzling, like the best
satay, and dreamily transporting, like everyone's
favorite dessert—
goreng pisang. Feast on this outrageously funny
and insightful novel of modern manners, and enjoy!”
—Lisa See, author of
Dreams of Joy and
Shanghai Girls
“[An] instant favorite. . . . Opulence and
zaniness reign.”
—
O, The Oprah Magazine
—VanityFair.com