From a mesmerising storyteller, this is a kaleidoscopic portrayal of the dazzling towers and bustling streets of Shanghai, and of how the new China, where age-old customs conflict with twenty-first-century ambitions, is reshaping the lives of millions. Deeply involving and beautifully observed, Five Star Billionaire (2013) is a powerful story of success, failure and the blurred line between the two.
Hardback: Opportunity can take many forms, nowhere more so than in Shanghai, the world's fastest-growing metropolis.
A TV talent show might catapult you to fame, only for you to be flung back down to obscurity; an identity card left on a crumb-covered cafe table could be a one-way ticket to deportation, or the first step towards the job of your dreams.
For five newcomers, this glittering megacity is the stage where fantasy can become reality.
Phoebe, without a job but armed with wisdom culled from self-help books, is determined to catch a rich man.
Gary is a pop star whose life is spinning violently out of control.
Justin withdraws from his powerful family and their real-estate empire in the hope of reconnecting with Yinghui, a former student activist turned successful businesswoman.
And all the while, the Five Star Billionaire himself pulls the strings of destiny, his lessons for success subtly but irrevocably shifting the dynamics of these disparate lives.
About the author: Tash Aw was born in Taipei, in the Republic of China, and brought up in Malaysia. He moved to England in his teens and now lives in London. He is the author of The Harmony Silk Factory (2005), which was the winner of the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Novel and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the prestigious 2007 International Impac Dublin Award and the Guardian First Book Prize. He is also the author of Map of the Invisible World (2009). Five Star Billionaire has been longlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize. Aw is now one of the most respected literary figures in Southeast Asia.
Rating: 3/5
