The New York Times - Dwight Garner
Mr. Aw has an eye for status distinctions. There is some Edith Wharton, as well as some Tom Wolfe, in how he invests awareness of these distinctions with moral and financial peril. Five Star Billionaire…[is] a busy yet sophisticated portrait of life in one of the most populous cities on earth…Mr. Aw is a patient writer, and an elegant one…a writer to watch. He works high and low, and is as interesting to read on pop music as he is on finance or sibling rivalry.
Publishers Weekly
Aw (Map of the Invisible World), in his third novel, follows five Malaysian immigrants in Shanghai as they try to realize the city’s dazzling promise. Justin C.K. Lim has come to expand his family’s Forbes-listed financial empire, while his old crush Yinghui, just nominated for a Businesswoman of the Year award, is haunted by her idealistic activist past. Phoebe, having grown up in a village that “was not a place for dreams or ambition,” jumps at the chance to take over a friend’s restaurant job in mainland China, but when she arrives, she discovers that the restaurant has been abandoned. Pop star Gary, after conquering Malaysia and Taiwan, comes to cement his idol status, only to find himself under siege by the tabloids. Walter Chao is a powerful billionaire whose charitable deeds are as mystifying as his charm. These characters, whose lives intersect and overlap in the strangest of ways, create a portrait of an unforgiving city that “held its promises just out of your reach.” But like the characters, who are left confused and wanting more, one reaches the novel’s conclusion feeling disappointed. Agent: David Godwin, David Godwin Associates. (July)
From the Publisher
"A literary victory. . . . Aw moves fluidly between past and present, creating a multilayered narrative about chasing, catching, and sometimes losing elusive opportunities." ---Library Journal Starred Review
DECEMBER 2013 - AudioFile
Robertson Dean's serious baritone is the right choice for narrating this story of four relatively recent arrivals to Shanghai who are variously in search of success, love, and escape from the past. Dean's detached tone and limited emotional engagement communicate the sense of isolation and introspection the characters feel as they make their way to their individual versions of success in this large city. All the characters are mysteriously and unknowingly interwoven through the machinations of one Walter Chao, the author of a fictional guide to business success in the new China, "Secrets of a Five Star Billionaire." Interspersed within the narrative are excerpts from Chao's book, which in audio format can be difficult to distinguish from the rest of the story. S.E.G. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
Making it in Shanghai: Five immigrants find life challenging in Malaysian Aw's third outing. All five are ethnic Chinese from Malaysia. Phoebe and Gary are from the poor, rural North; Justin and Yinghui are from powerful, wealthy families. There's also Walter Chao (more about him later). Phoebe has little going for her, but she knows from self-help books to re-invent herself. Gary, still in his teens, is a pop star; after wowing them in Taiwan, he's preparing for his first Shanghai concert. Yinghui was forced to leave Malaysia when the family business collapsed; now 37, she owns two successful lingerie stores. Justin is here on family business to acquire real estate. When he and Yinghui, who knew each other in Malaysia, have a chance meeting, it counts as a hallelujah moment, simply since any character interaction is a relief from the long slabs of exposition. The only break has been the voice of Walter Chao, who addresses the reader directly. He has overcome poverty in Malaysia to become a successful businessman and author of self-help books (yes, Phoebe's read them). Walter's a philanthropist, he tells us, but is he reliable or a con man? The question gathers urgency after he persuades Yinghui to invest in a cultural center. The answer comes only at the very end, in one throwaway sentence, Aw having seemingly lost interest in his own handiwork. Shanghai, painted in broad strokes, is a city that never sleeps, an eerie replica of New York. There are numerous flashbacks to Malaysia, where Yinghui had a long relationship with Justin's brother; the only interesting writing is the barbed treatment of these two Westernized poseurs. A clunky novel.
