These crazy rich folks have no jobs and pass their time with hundred thousand dollar shopping sprees, helicopter trips and private planes to casinos and private island resorts.
Mini-celebrities, crazy rich Asians are constantly keeping up with appearances, embroiled in gossip, judging and being judged by others.
The central character is an ABC (American Born Chinese), Rachel Chu, who lives in New York City with her boyfriend Nick Young.
Rachel has no idea how rich, much less crazy rich, Nick is and only finds out when they head to Singapore for Nick's best friend Colin Khoo's wedding.
In Singapore, Rachel discovers that Nick literally grew up in a palace surrounded by servants, with a grandmother who has been gifted ladies in waiting from the King of Thailand.
There are multiple story lines in the novel where each character, no matter how crazy rich, has heartache that must be dealt with - whether it's Nick's cousin Astrid in a struggling marriage, Colin's anxiety of being in the spotlight with his upcoming nuptial to Araminta Lee (also crazy rich, of course), or Nick's cousin Eddie's superficiality and jealousy that forces him to dress his young children in matching Ralph Lauren outfits.
Like every country, there are differences between old and new money. Asians from mainland China represent the new money for Singaporeans, Shanghainese and Hong Kongese, and tend to be flashier, like Rachel's Singaporean friend from Stanford Peik Lin, who lives in an estate with a reproduction of Versailles' Hall of Mirrors.
By contrast, Nick's family is well ensconced in the old money category, with a rich lineage of crazy rich ancestors.
With footnotes throughout that provide details on local foods and Malay and Pernakin slang, and dialogue that includes vernacular such as "henwees" or HNWI (high network individual), Kwan immerses the reader in this crazy rich world where brand name labels pepper every day conversation much like the weather for New Englanders.
As an ABC, I can definitely relate to the cultural accuracy described in this book. Not only are Asians obsessed with food, but also with their children, especially daughters, marrying well. There are constant comparisons to others and extreme materialism - whether pertaining to wealth or other representation of "success," like attending Cambridge University.
(Harvard and American universities are not worth going go.)
The perception of ABC's also ring true - that we are overly overconfident and overly familiar, and oblivious to the ultra rich pecking order of other countries. This is an accurate description of all Americans though, not just Asian Americans.
An international tale, with chapters taking place in Singapore, Hong Kong and Paris, Crazy Rich Asians is a glimpse inside the mega rich of Asia, who are not shy about showcasing their extreme wealth, whether with a yatch with its own helicopter landing pad, hot tub or library; or high-tech temperature zone controlled closet with a camera that captures each outfit.
To distinguish between all these crazy rich Asians, there are tell-tale signs such as Singaporeans who tend to wear less jewelry because they are afraid of getting mugged, Hong Kongeans who tend to all dress alike in the same designer brands, and Japanese who dress like they're about to go play golf.
Despite the tell-tale signs, all crazy rich Asians have something in common - the love of shopping and snapping up designer labels. To the dismay of many crazy rich Asians, the Louis Voitton store in Paris limits purchases of one item per customer.
Even walking along Newbury Street in Boston, stores are mobbed with frenzied Asian tourists scooping things up. A childhood friend and fellow ABC would always get a kick out of going into a Newbury Street boutique and being waiting on hand and foot as shopkeepers thought she was a crazy rich Asian tourist.
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