A review by bywell
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid

5.0

Hands down, the best book I read this year.

Written in the second person, Hamid wastes no words telling the full story of a man’s life in two hundred and forty delicious pages. We do not learn the protagonists name (you) or that of his girlfriend (the pretty girl) or where in Asia they live, but we do learn a path to success and how one man has lived his life.

The twelve chapters provide the framework - Move to the City; Get an Education; Don’t Fall in Love; Avoid Idealists; Learn from a Master; Work for Yourself; Be Prepared to Use Violence; Befriend a Bureaucrat; Patronize the Artists of War; Dance with Debt; Focus on the Fundamentals; and Have an Exit Strategy.

While some may find the voice and the structure difficult, I found it to be comfortable and comforting. Being one step removed allowed me to worry less about our hero’s struggles and enjoy his life’s story all the more.