'Crazy Rich Asians'

Kevin Kwan’s new novel out of Singapore sends up a new world of wealth exploding in the East.

The most famous China-born member of the billionaire world today is probably Wendi Deng Murdoch, wife of Rupert Murdoch, headed for divorce.

But Asia is exploding with self-made billionaires of its own these days. A "great wall of cash" out of China and beyond, on a scale that staggers.

A $150 million wedding these days? Look to Asia, and all that glitters.

Singapore-born Kevin Kwan captures it all in his new novel, "Crazy Rich Asians." The wall of money rising over the world.

Up next On Point: Kevin Kwan and "Crazy Rich Asians."
-- Tom Ashbrook

Kevin Kwan, author of the novel "Crazy Rich Asians." He grew up in Singapore, a child of wealthy parents. (@crazyrichasians)

Read an additional excerpt at the publisher's website.

NPR: Children Of China's Wealthy Learn Expensive Lessons — "In China, having too much money is a relatively new problem. But the rapidly growing country is second only to the U.S. in its number of billionaires, according to Forbes magazine. And now an enterprising company has set up a course for kids born into wealthy families, who are learning how to deal with the excesses of extraordinary wealth."

Elle: Meet The New Asian Super-Rich — "When mainland China shifted to a more market-driven economy late in the twentieth century, wealth creation went from almost zero to supersonic in a matter of decades. People in industries from manufacturing to property development to retail suddenly got stupendously rich, and a new class of superrich emerged. A decade ago there were no Chinese billionaires on the annual Forbes list. In 2013, there are 122."

The Atlantic: The Growing Disdain For China's Super-Rich — "Fu'erdai literally translates to 'rich second generation' and are generally either guan'erdai, meaning 'government official second generation;' xing'erdai, meaning 'super-star second generation;' or hong'erdai, children whose families have strong roots in the Communist Party and can 'eat from both plates.'"

"Shuang Shuang Yan" by Deng Bai Ying

"Bye Bye" by Denise Ho

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