Crazy Rich Asians

Romance · Comedy · Satire

First published: 2013
Print length: 403 pagesDoubleday, 2013

Description

New Yorker Rachel Chu travels to Singapore with her boyfriend, Nick, expecting to meet his traditional family and attend an elaborate society wedding. Instead, she discovers that Nick belongs to a dynasty of staggering wealth, surrounded by palatial homes, private planes, entrenched expectations, and relatives who scrutinize every newcomer. Nick’s formidable mother doubts that Rachel belongs with him, while the wedding season turns their private relationship into public property among Singapore’s elite. As Rachel navigates extravagant parties and calculated hostility, Nick must confront what his family name demands of them both. The novel combines romantic comedy with social satire, using clashes over money, status, inheritance, and cultural belonging to test whether affection can survive a world organized by pedigree.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Conversational · Descriptive · Dialogue-driven · Witty

Pace

Brisk

Tone

Humorous · Playful · Romantic · Satirical

Structure

Braided · Linear

Focus

Atmosphere · Character · Relationships

Emotional intensity

3 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 2 / 5
Ideas: 2 / 5
Structure: 3 / 5
Background knowledge: 1 / 5

Themes

BelongingClassFamilyLoveMarriageWealth

About Kevin Kwan

Kevin Kwan is a Singaporean-born American novelist whose social comedies examine wealth, family authority, and belonging among cosmopolitan Asian elites. Crazy Rich Asians and its sequels, China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems, use romance and dynastic conflict as entry points into a densely observed world of inherited privilege. Kwan’s characteristic method is satirical accumulation: lavish settings, status-conscious dialogue, competing relatives, and exacting social codes create comedy while exposing the pressures behind polished surfaces. His prose is conversational, descriptive, and quickened by wit, with relationships carrying as much weight as spectacle. Before writing these novels, he worked at Interview Magazine, Martha Stewart Living, and the design firm M&Co. His attention to presentation serves a broader purpose: he has sought to portray cultivated Asian families whose histories and tastes are often obscured by accounts focused narrowly on conspicuous consumption. In Sex and Vanity, he adapted the structure of E. M. Forster’s A Room with a View to another cosmopolitan comedy of manners.

Series

Crazy Rich Asians · Book 1

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: Doubleday
Language: English
ISBN: 9780385536974

Keep your books and notes in Collected for iPhone.

Apple Books is a service mark of Apple Inc. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.