Five Star Billionaire
A tale of ambition and identity in a bustling metropolis
Format:Paperback
Publisher:HarperCollins Publishers
Published:2nd Jan '14
Should be back in stock very soon
This novel follows five newcomers in Shanghai, exploring their intertwined lives and the pursuit of wealth and identity in a dynamic city. Five Star Billionaire reveals the complexities of ambition.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of Shanghai, Five Star Billionaire explores the intertwined lives of five individuals drawn to the city by the allure of wealth and success. Each character represents a unique facet of ambition and desire, highlighting the complexities of modern life in a city where tradition meets innovation. As they navigate their new surroundings, they grapple with personal aspirations and the realities of their choices, revealing the multifaceted nature of the human experience in pursuit of dreams.
In this kaleidoscopic narrative, readers are introduced to a golddigger, a property magnate, a pop star, an entrepreneur, and a guru, each seeking to carve out their own identity in a bustling metropolis. The city of Shanghai serves as both a character and a setting, pulsating with energy and opportunity, while also presenting challenges that test the limits of their ambitions. The characters' lives intersect in unexpected ways, leading to moments of introspection and revelation.
Five Star Billionaire delves into themes of aspiration, identity, and the often harsh realities of chasing success. It paints a vivid picture of a place where dreams are tantalizingly close yet elusive, reminding us that the journey towards achieving our goals can be as significant as the goals themselves. Through its rich storytelling, the novel invites readers to reflect on what it truly means to be successful in a world filled with possibilities.
‘Aw's tale of five migrant workers carving out lives in a modernising Shanghai is the stuff of a hit TV miniseries … the reading experience it offers is coolly engrossing’ Adam Mars-Jones, Observer
‘A brilliant, sprawling, layered and unsentimental portrayal of contemporary China’ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
'A fascinating cast of characters … a panoramic, expertly detailed painting of contemporary Shanghai' Sunday Times
‘“Five Star Billionaire” opens with a bang, not a whimper … Aw is a master storyteller and “Five Star Billionaire” can be read as “The Way We Live Now” for our times’ Aminatta Forna, Guardian
‘[Aw] is unmatched at evoking the smells and sounds of the land and cityscapes, the figures of speech and shifting cultural mores of that finger-like peninsula that pokes into the South China Sea …Their tales are told chapter by chapter, the characters slowly drawing closer together like flotsam in a vortex, before the stunning finale …There is wit here, and plenty of acute observation and characterisation’ Independent on Sunday
‘A new kind of immigrant novel. One that takes place in our increasingly mutlipolar world and is …a challenge to the old narrative’ Sunday Telegraph
‘The five characters are distinct, and Aw manages to bring them together well … Aw brilliantly recreates the intonations and vocabulary of someone educated only in Chinese’ Independent
‘Highly topical, sharply observed but affecting portmanteau novel’ Independent, ‘Books of the Year’
‘A splendid achievement. The narrative … is brilliantly designed, a puzzle whose pieces click satisfyingly into place – Aw’s book could scarcely be bettered’ Independent on Sunday
‘Aw’s style – terse but tender, lightly ironic without being snide – is fresh, bracing and, above all, compassionate. His characters … form profound impressions on the reader. One simply cares deeply what happens to them, and this skilled writer never makes that an easy matter to predict’ Scotsman
ISBN: 9780007494187
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 28mm
Weight: 310g
448 pages