The lockdown upturned life as they knew it for most people. But not for Kevin Kwan. The enforced isolation was how he had lived and worked since October last year.
“I was in a self-imposed lockdown,” says the best-selling author. Locked away, he worked on Sex and Vanity, his fourth novel, which hit the shelves this June. “I try to be in complete isolation when I write,” Kwan says, speaking from LA. “I go into my writer’s cave and get lost in the story and its characters. If I emerge from there, it isn’t easy getting back into that space.”
While he works on his books – which include Crazy Rich Asians, China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems – he cuts down phone usage and turns off email. “I put out a message saying ‘I might not call you back for three months’,” Kwan says.
Travels in his armchair
He had hoped to turn in the manuscript by February and then embrace the exhilaration of promoting the book. The pandemic put paid to that.
“I miss the promotions,” Kwan says. “Writing is a lonely sport. Once that’s done, I enjoy going on tours, meeting people. In a way, it’s showing gratitude to the people who’ve gone out and bought your book.”
Kwan’s love for travel is evident in his latest book, much of which is set in Capri, Italy. He had hoped people would read the book while lying on a beach. “I didn’t expect the book to be released in the midst of a pandemic. But I still hope it can lend solace, joy and laughter in these times. I find myself reading about exotic places these days, and we can all armchair travel.”
“I find myself reading about exotic places these days, and we can all armchair travel”
Kwan’s travels brought him to India for a lit-fest in Mumbai and he spent two weeks in Rajasthan. “I knew I’d love India, but I didn’t realise how much,” Kwan says. The historical sites made a deep impression and he found even the modern cities incredible. “I made friends with an architect who showed me the hidden parts of Bandra with its colonial influences. I long to return and see South India. It’s so many different countries within a country. That’s true also of China. No province is like another and Westerners don’t always get that.”
Old money and new
In Mumbai, Kwan took in the contrast between the unostentatious Mani Bhavan and Antilia. “And it’s for one family, right?” he asks, pointing to the dichotomy of these two edifices situated in the same locality.
The frequently abrasive contrast between old money and new in Asia, specifically among the Chinese, is a key element in Kwan’s stories. While the old-moneyed class considers the nouveau riche vulgar and crass, the latter dismiss this disapproval as mere jealousy. “They are living out loud and enjoying themselves more and, hey, they have more money, too,” Kwan points out. “Everyone thinks they are doing it the right way, that’s human nature.”
The frequently abrasive contrast between old money and new in Asia, specifically among the Chinese, is a key element in Kwan’s stories
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Jessica Chou
)
He is careful not to be judgmental, taking instead a satirical view. Another thing that gets unique treatment in Sex and Vanity is the snobbery attached to an elite education. So, every character introduction is accompanied in parenthesis by her or his alma mater. The protagonist Lucie, for instance, is (92nd Street Nursery School, Brearley, Brown Class of ’18), while her cousin and chaperone in Capri, Charlotte, is (Rippowam, Miss Porter’s, Smith).
Kwan says, “When I moved to New York in my 20s, at every social event I went to, I found elite New Yorkers name-dropping which school and college they had been to. Then, they’d want to know where I had gone. So, I meant that as a joke. But you can tell a great deal about the characters from where they were educated.”
Simplicity rules
There’s plenty of great food in Kwan’s books, remarkable architecture and design and, of course, high fashion. While Kwan was tracking trends when he ran his own design studio, now he’s not really concerned with what’s coming off the runways. “I have a dear family friend, Cleo Davis-Urman, who acts as my fashion consultant. She is a style director at Saks Fifth Avenue and was stylist for my characters in books 2 and 3,” he explains.
His personal style, Kwan maintains, is simple and casual and LA suits him very well because nobody dresses up. “I only shop when I travel. I like to support local businesses and local artisans.”
“India is so many countries within a country. That’s true also of China.”
Sex and Vanity features his favourite sandal-maker in Capri. “From a very young age, I refused to wear anything that screamed a brand name. If I was going to advertise, I might as well get paid for it,” he laughs. “I’m happiest in my shorts and sandals. I’m still an island boy in that sense.”
Kwan grew up in one of Singapore’s most affluent households. “We lived with our grandparents and various relatives. The family home was, in fact, a little village. Singapore in the ’70s and ’80s was a tropical paradise, with remote lanes and forests through which we would cycle. It was an idyllic childhood. I was not very good at school and was more like a wild monkey,” Kwan reminisces.
While it was a privileged upbringing, he was no spoilt brat, he says. “We got one new outfit every Chinese New Year. I have two older brothers and wore a lot of hand-me-downs and the toys were ancient. So, I had no idea of money or privilege.”
Singapore calling
When he was 11, the family moved to Texas. “It was a huge culture shock,” Kwan remembers. “I had to learn how to do everything for myself. I think my father, who had a very Western outlook, wanted us to have that.”
But the memories of his childhood in Singapore remained strong. “My father had grown up in a different time and had had a wonderful childhood. When he fell ill, I began to put these memories down. It was a way of reconnecting with them.”
Kwan had initially meant to write a collection of short stories peopled by characters he had known in Singapore. Eventually, it became Crazy Rich Asians and was made into a hit film.
When Crazy Rich Asians was being filmed – Kwan was an executive producer – he found himself commuting too often for his liking to LA from New York and decided to move there. He’s started his own production house and is hoping to roll out more projects in the future.
“Now, of course, Hollywood has hit the pause button,” he says. And, yes, he’s watched Bollywood films. “The whole spectacle amazes me,” Kwan says. “There was this scene of a dance atop a train I found utterly fascinating.” Ah, Chaiya Chaiya.
Tech that!
For a book called Sex and Vanity, there’s not a great deal of the former in it. “My friend’s 17-year-old son is a bright kid, very popular in high school. He’s made a conscious decision to keep off social media. He said he had no interest in taking selfies all day long and that sex and vanity is what it was all about. I thought it was a great name for a novel. And it reflects the central emotions running through the book.”
He himself is a Luddite, Kwan laughs. Because of his books, he had to get on Instagram and Facebook. “I’m convinced I was born in the wrong era, a hundred years too late. I am all for real experiences. The virtual cannot equal that. The mark of true success for me will be when I can be completely rid of tech. I’d like to live in a village in Italy. Any messages for me would be left in a café. The bartender would hand them to me when I went in for my cappuccino.”
Who would have thought that would be the ultimate dream of the man who wrote Crazy Rich Asians?
The writer is a senior lifestyle journalist and editor based in Bengaluru, and has edited several mainstream publications in the past.
Also see: HT Brunch Cover Story: Questioning happiness with Amish
From HT Brunch, July 26, 2020
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