The Wangs vs The World
by Jade Chang
'Fresh, energetic, and completely hilarious, The Wangs vs. the World is my favorite debut of the year.' Jami Attenberg, author of Saint Mazie and The Middlesteins
Charles Wang has just lost the cosmetics fortune he built up since emigrating to the US. Gone are the houses, the cars, and the incredible lifestyle. Faced with this loss, he decides to take his family on a trip to China and attempt to reclaim his ancestral lands.
But first they must go on a cross-country journey from their foreclosed Bel-Air home to the Upstate New York retreat of his eldest daughter, Saina. Charles takes his other two children out of schools that he can no longer afford and packs them into the only car that wasn't repossessed-along with their wealth-addicted stepmother, Barbra.
But with his son waylaid by a much-older temptress in New Orleans, his wife ready to defect for a set of 1,000-thread-count sheets, and an epic smash-up in North Carolina, Charles may have to choose between the old world and the new, between keeping his family intact and finally, finally fulfilling his dream of China.
Paperback
English
Brand New
Notes
A humorous and fast-paced debut novel, it follows a Chinese American family who lose everything, only to find themselves. '...A sassy, riches to rags story that skewers contemporary America in the most entertaining way' Daily Mail
Back Cover
Back cover'Consistently funny, compassionate and bright-eyed' New York Times Book Review Charles Wang is angry . . . America has promised him the dream: a beautiful life of mansions, yachts and sports cars. And he has lived it, until he loses everything to those bankrupt banks in 2008. Now he must return home to China in disgrace. First, however, he has to collect his children from schools he can no longer afford. But Andrew, Grace and Saina are still clinging to their own dreams of making it in America and can't quite believe their father's news. With no money and only a battered old station wagon to take them anywhere, the Wangs cross a country that no longer knows itself - unsure of their destination but riding on the fumes of hope . . . 'Sharply comic. A hilarious take on the road trip novel' Stylist 'Uproarious' Entertainment Weekly 'Mischievous, Dickensian, confident, wildly innovative, a diabolical dramedy one of 2016's must-reads' Elle 'Full on, fast and funny. Skewers contemporary America in the most entertaining way' Daily Mail
Author Biography
Jade Chang has covered arts and culture for publications like Metropolis Magazine (where she was the West Coast Editor for several years), the BBC, the Los Angeles Times magazine, Glamour, and others. She recently worked at Goodreads. The Wangs VS The World is her first novel.
Review
A heartbreaking, hilarious, and honest American epic * J. Ryan Stradal, author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest * A fresh Little Miss Sunshine. * Sloane Crosley in Vanity Fair * Fresh, energetic, and completely hilarious, The Wangs vs. the World is my favorite debut of the year. * Jami Attenberg, author of Saint Mazie and The Middlesteins * A recession-era Little Miss Sunshine meets Arrested Development . . . a fun debut that offers something a little bit different. * Big Issue * The Wangs vs. the World is one of the most thrilling, skilfully wrought novels I've read in ages . . .a rollicking rambunctious ride with a crew of unforgettable characters. * Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Animals * Sharply comic, The Wangs Vs the World is a hilarious take on the road trip novel * Stylist * [A] richly entertaining debut . . . smart and engaging * Guardian *
Review Text
[A] richly entertaining debut . . . smart and engaging
Review Quote
The Wangs vs. the World is one of the most thrilling , skilfully wrought novels I've read in ages . . .a rollicking rambunctious ride with a crew of unforgettable characters .
Promotional "Headline"
A fast-paced, extremely funny novel about a Chinese American family who lose everything, only to find themselves
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