Tom Teicholz: Your first novel 'Crazy Rich Asians' had more to do with Singapore's society. I think you can see the distinctions in the choices the characters make and how they consume, display themselves and the lifestyle choices they make. Tom Teicholz: In the various different characters you present there are those who are just chasing status and the difference between luxury and just fashion. They matter to them and they do play a role in shaping not only their own lives, but in what Asia is becoming. These are real people dealing with, in their world, their very real problems which are not necessarily our problem. These are real people despite their net worth, despite their antics. I try to portray the reality underneath the sensation.

Kevin Kwan: I see myself more as an observer and of course in this satire, I hope readers will come away with their own judgments the attitudes of this cult that I'm writing about. Tom Teicholz: What's so enjoyable about your books is that you're both sort of sociologist and anthropologist cataloging all the various pecking orders and social statuses.

Kevin Kwan: It's definitely a phenomenon. 'China Rich Girlfriend' has a much more ‘grabbed from the headlines’ quality. Tom Teicholz: 'Crazy Rich Asians' was great fun. (The following represents an edited version of our conversation by phone and via email). So it seemed on fleek (did I use that correctly?) to have a conversation with Kwan about his novels,for 'Cult of Luxury' and get his own list of the places his characters frequent. However, behind the high-flying social satire is a detailed of-the-moment account of what’s in and what’s out among Asia’s upper crust what are the habits of the nouveau riche and old money and an examination what is fashion and what is luxury. While “Crazy Rich” had at its core a love story surrounded by complicated family intrigues, “China Rich” is about family (and family secrets), and moves the action to Hong Kong and Shanghai as much as Singapore with a love story at its periphery. “Crazy Rich” was a 21rst Century ‘Bonfire of the Vanities” gone global with a cast of new money, old money and no money from modern day Singapore to New York and back again. One of the most fun reads of this summer was Kevin Kwan’s “ China Rich Girlfriend” (Doubleday), Kevin’s Kwan’s follow up to last summer’s riotous bestseller “ Crazy Rich Asians” (Doubleday).

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan