O.C. readers spend Lunar New Year with author Kevin Kwan
Author Kevin Kwan laughed as he shared his mother's concern for the turnout of his special appearance in Orange County, since the event fell on Lunar New Year.
'She said, 'Who is going to come to the O.C. to see you on Lunar New Year?' said the Singaporean-born American novelist. 'Asian parents are a very specific breed, but I was really lucky in that they were always supportive of my crazy schemes.'
Thankfully, nearly 340 readers turned out for Kwan's literary event on Jan. 29 at the Norma Hertzog Community Center in Costa Mesa.
Presented by OC Public Libraries and partly funded through a grant from the California Department of Aging, the series features keynote speakers, like Kwan, in celebration of literacy. Kwan spoke with local journalist Jennifer Tanaka, took questions from the audience and signed copies of his books, which were made available for sale on site by Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore.
Kwan is the author of the international bestselling novel 'Crazy Rich Asians,' which has been translated into 40 languages. The subsequent books in the series, 'China Rich Girlfriend' and 'Rich People Problems,' both went on to be best sellers.
The film adaptation of 'Crazy Rich Asians' in 2018 became Hollywood's highest-grossing romantic comedy in more than a decade and is credited with launching the mainstream careers of many actors cast in the production, like Awkwafina. Directed by Jon M. Chu and released theatrically in the United States by Warner Bros., the film was the first major studio project almost entirely cast with performers of Chinese descent in a present-day setting since 'The Joy Luck Club' in 1993.
Kwan referenced the 'The Joy Luck Club' and its author, Amy Tan, another Asian American writer, as a source of early inspiration.
'Amy Tan, she is amazing, and she is one of my heroes. Her book was life-changing for me,' said Kwan. 'Reading 'The Joy Luck Club' was one of the most intensely wonderful experiences of my life.'
Kwan also maintained that the movie adaption of Tan's book was done at a level he strove for when his bestseller was adapted for the big screen.
'That movie was such a beautiful adaptation of a book and so to me that was the gold standard,' said Kwan. 'She was intensely involved in her movie, in fact she was one of the screenwriters. So watching her, I said I have to do the same thing. If Hollywood studios don't want to involve me, then they are not going to get to do this.'
Readers have gravitated to Kwan's storytelling for its insight into modern, albeit lavish, Asian culture, but they have also found themselves pulled in by his knowledge and colorful description of popular foods from Singapore, Malaysia and Hawaii.
'I grew up in Singapore as a child, and I think Singapore is the original foodie country,' said Kwan. 'We literally ate five times a day; breakfast, lunch, high tea, dinner and supper was what my family did, so we were always food obsessed. When I moved to America, that just never ended.'
While Kwan writes often about the food he loves, he also writes about food the characters in his books love as a way of informing the reader a bit more about who they are and their tastes. As he read aloud from his latest release, 'Lies and Weddings,' he elicited oohs and ahhs from the audience as he shared a scene in which two characters dine on what they consider a simple lunch.
'Barely two hours later, Arabella found herself at a table on the glorious outdoor terrace of Rosina's rooftop garden suite, alternately sipping champagne and chrysanthemum tea and enjoying a simple lunch of flame blue lobster with caviar, Sichuan-style mapo tofu with minced Iberico pork, lacquered abalone with ginger and butter and lime, lotus roots with seasonal vegetables and golden garlic, braised boneless beef ribs flambe with wine, goji berries and radish in a stone pot and wok-fired rice noodles with wagyu beef and bok choy in a silky egg gravy,' Kwan read.
Some readers have been inspired to visit the places Kwan writes about and use his books as a travel guide of sorts. The author's books include scenes at popular restaurants like Din Tai Fung and Tex Drive-In in Hawaii. Even an Orange County restaurant, Nick's in Laguna Beach, gets a shout out.
'I love their French dip sandwich,' said Kwan. 'That was my Laguna Beach discovery and I love it.'
Kwan discussed upcoming projects and fielded questions about the anticipated movie sequel to 'Crazy Rich Asians' and another film from his new book series in development.
'The first exciting news is that 'Sex and Vanity' is being made into a film by Sony, so right now we are furiously trying to rework the script and get that finalized, and if all goes well, perhaps it will film this year. There are two amazing actors that are already attached but I can't say who they are.'
Kwan also spoke about plans to turn 'Crazy Rich Asians' into a musical with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures and Chu, who recently helmed the Broadway-musical-turned-Hollywood-blockbuster 'Wicked,' returning as director.
'The other exciting news is the 'Crazy Rich Asians' musical,' Kwan said. 'We have actually been working on it for five years now. A book-to-Broadway adaption takes 10 years, believe it or not.'
He also hinted at upcoming plans for both the big and small screen.
'In the meantime, Warner Bros. is also trying to do spinoffs.'
At heart Kwan is a writer, and he spoke about his new series that borrows from classic literature with Asian American characters at the center. He offered sage advice for anyone interested in writing a novel.
'Start with a page a day, and in a year you will have a book.'
'A Slice of Literary Orange' series has more keynote speakers lined up throughout the year, including Erika L. Sánchez, author of the New York Times bestseller 'I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter' on Feb. 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the Clifton C. Miller Community Center in Tustin and national best-selling author ReShonda Tate on Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Norma Hertzog Community Center in Costa Mesa.
For more information on other events with 'A Slice of Literary Orange,' visit ocpl.org.
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Wild Honey was a marvelous return to their trashy rock & roll roots, a 24-minute rush of garage-band kicks. But nobody bought this one either — Wild Honey became their worst seller to date. The boy genius was damaged goods. Now full-grown men with beards, the band made Sunflower a soulful adult statement for the new decade — so polished it's practically their Abbey Road. Sunflower came out on the last day of August 1970, Surf's Up almost exactly a year later, which must have seemed all wrong for the Beach Boys. But it's fitting because both albums are about moving on after the surf is gone, which is why both resonate today. Surf's Up finally unveiled the title song, along with spooked-out gems like 'Long Promised Road' and 'Til I Die.' They were the last great songs Brian would manage to complete for years. Brian became rock's most notorious lost boy in the 1970s, hiding in his mansion in a druggy haze, with the shades pulled down. As he later admitted, 'I was in bed in the early Seventies.' He wore a bathrobe behind the counter of his health-food shop, the Radiant Radish. (The high point for him: 'I learned to use a cash register.') But when he managed to focus on music, he could still bring it — as in 'Marcella,' a blast of Stones-y raunch about his favorite masseuse. He came through in 1977 with The Beach Boys Love You, a cult oddity prized by hardcore Brianistas. He sings painfully candid confessions in his rough (and often out-of-tune) voice, yet with all of his melodic sparkle. As he explained, 'I wrote some songs that were about how I felt in my thirties, the same way that Pet Sounds was about how I felt in my twenties.' He vents his adult loneliness in 'Airplane,' 'I Bet He's Nice,' and the bizarrely touching 'Johnny Carson,' where he's got no company except the late-night TV talk-show host. 'I Wanna Pick You Up' remains one of rock's loveliest fatherhood songs — even if it sounds like Dad could use some babysitting himself. The Eighties and Nineties were full of comeback efforts, with scattered not-bad results. But Brian was written off as a tragic burnout. In 1987, for Rolling Stone's 20th anniversary issue, he was asked a couple of questions he sang back in 1965's 'When I Grow Up (to Be a Man).' Did he dig the same things that turned him on as a kid? 'Laughing. I like to laugh.' And did he ever look back and wish he hadn't done what he did? 'Drugs,' he said quietly. 'I wish I hadn't taken them.' But he didn't imagine having any place in the public imagination. 'Not really an identity, no. Just a high voice. That's about it.' But that's why it was such a shock when he reemerged in the 2000s in a creative rebirth, finally making music worthy of his name again, onstage and in the studio. The 2001 TV special An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson served notice that he was back in shape. The whole four-hour concert was an unforgettable night of Brian worship: Paul Simon crooning 'Surfer Girl,' Elton John doing the twist with Billy Joel for 'Fun, Fun, Fun,' the Go-Gos bashing 'Little Honda,' David Crosby yowling, 'This is the worst trip I've ever been on.' But Brian stole the show, making a cold, rainy March night in NYC glow with the warmth of the sun. He even went back to the great doomed opus of his youth, Smile. It was rock's most legendary unfinished masterpiece, with outtakes assembled on the 2011 box The Smile Sessions. But the definitive Smile is his fully realized 2004 version, with Brian finally strong enough to do these songs justice, in his sublimely autumnal 'Cabin Essence' and 'Surf's Up.' It peaks with 'Wonderful,' a two-minute reverie about childhood, a fragile tune he'd never had the voice for until now. Once his most infamous defeat, Smile became one of the great artistic triumphs of his life. Good vibrations, indeed. He kept revisiting these songs for decades, always hearing the new stories they were telling as they evolved over time. 'Keep an Eye on Summer,' a deep cut from the 1964 throwaway LP Shut Down Volume 2, took on a whole new meaning when he sang it on his 1998 Imagination, ruminating on how time fades away. In a 2018 radio interview, Al Jardine summed up 'In My Room' beautifully: 'I assumed it was Brian Wilson's personal story about being secluded and lonely and feeling those feelings we all have.' He wrote the last of his classics with 'Summer's Gone,' his finale for the Beach Boys' 2012 reunion, That's Why God Made the Radio. It was a farewell to his lost brothers Carl and Dennis, but as he said, 'It was like 'Caroline, No' also, because I was thinking about younger versions of myself.' Brian sings about watching the waves, maybe on the same beach where he sang 'The Lonely Sea' decades ago. 'Old friends have gone, they've gone their separate ways,' he sings. 'Our dreams hold on for those who have more to say.' 'Summer's Gone' seems to sum up the whole Brian Wilson saga in five bittersweet minutes, transforming grief and solitude into timeless beauty. The damage of his early years could have destroyed him — yet he found a way to transform it into music that will be sung around the world as long as people can sing. His life could have been a horror story — he turned it into a love song. This is a heavy loss for anyone who loves music — it seems the more we talk about him, it only makes it worse to live without him. But let's talk about him. We're all lucky to share in the world he helped create in his music. He turned it into the kind of world where we belong. Good night and thank you, Brian Wilson. Surf's up, forever. 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