Crazy Rich Asians’ Kevin Kwan says life has reached ‘a whole other level of crazy’
The Singaporean author is back with a new novel, Sex and Vanity, which, believe it or not, is an homage to E.M. Forster
Kevin Kwan first realised how radically his life had changed during a visit home to Houston, Texas, in the United States. Walking with his mother through the car park of a suburban supermarket, and navigating swarms of traffic, Kwan got into his car and tried to back out.
“There was this SUV full of guys honking, and frantically waving their arms,” recalls Kwan. “I thought, ‘Oh, no, did I hit something?’ I rolled down my window, and said, ‘What’s the matter?’ They all smiled and said, ‘Kevin, Kevin! Can we have a selfie?’”
Indeed, while many other Los Angeles residents now think of their lives as two distinct parts – pre- and post-coronavirus – Kwan has a different sense of “before and after”. The recent California transplant, who landed here by way of Manhattan, Houston and Singapore, divides his life instead into pre-CRA and post-CRA.
Crazy Rich Asians, Kwan’s 2013 novel, spawned two equally hilarious sequels, China Rich Girlfriend (2015)and Rich People Problems (2017), and an eponymous international blockbuster film in 2018.
The author had just about got used to speaking in front of polite bookstore audiences all over the US – several dozen people was considered a good night – but now his star status means appearing in front of bookstore crowds in Manila, in the Philippines, with expansive hoardings announcing his arrival, and hundreds of screaming fans jammed into one venue.
Another new marker of Kwan’s stardom is the paparazzi presence. Recently, the author drove into his LA garage to find waiting for him a crew from TMZ, the notorious tabloid news website.
