How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia
{{short description|2013 novel by Mohsin Hamid}}
{{Infobox book
|name = How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia
| image = How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia.jpg
| caption = First edition (UK)
|author = Mohsin Hamid
|published = 2013
| isbn = 978-1-59448-729-3
|publisher = Hamish Hamilton (UK)
Riverhead Books (US)
}}
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia is Mohsin Hamid's third novel, published in 2013 by Hamish Hamilton in the United Kingdom and Riverhead Books in the United States.{{cite web | url=http://www.us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781594487293,00.html | title=How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia | publisher=Penguin.com | accessdate=8 January 2014}}
The novel uses a second-person perspective, referring to the protagonist only as "you."[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/how-to-get-filthy-rich-in-rising-asia-a-satire-too-caught-up-in-its-own-conceits/article9520512/ How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia: A satire too caught up in its own conceits – The Globe and Mail] The story takes place in an unnamed country that resembles Hamid's home country of Pakistan.[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/Book-Review-How-to-Get-Filthy-Rich-in-Rising-Asia/articleshow/19596495.cms Book Review: How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia – The Times of India] It details the protagonist's beginnings as a poor boy, and quest for wealth and love as he moves to the city and enters the bottled water business.{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/22/books/how-to-get-filthy-rich-in-rising-asia-by-mohsin-hamid.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2& | title='How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia' by Mohsin Hamid | work=The New York Times | date=21 February 2013 | accessdate=8 January 2014 | author=KAKUTANI, MICHIKO}}
Reception
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia was generally well-received, including a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, who called it "[a]nother great success ... and another illustration of how richly the colonial margins are feeding the core of literature in English."{{Cite web |date=2013-04-02 |title=How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mohsin-hamid/how-to-get-filthy-rich-in-rising-asia/ |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=Kirkus Reviews}} The Telegraph called the novel Hamid's "most impressive yet."{{Cite web |last=Gordon |first=Edmund |date=2013-03-22 |title=How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid: review |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9945484/How-to-Get-Filthy-Rich-in-Rising-Asia-by-Mohsin-Hamid-review.html |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=The Telegraph}} Nick DiMartino, writing for Shelf Awareness, applauded how Hamid "combines extremely lean prose and a wry sense of irony to create a dramatic monologue with a wickedly satirical vision of modern times."{{Cite web |last=DiMartino |first=Nick |date=2013-03-08 |title=How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia |url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/readers-issue.html?issue=177 |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=Shelf Awareness}}
Publishers Weekly noted that "though readers may find it frustrating that [story arcs for the protagonist and love interest] never overlap for long, the intermittent intersections provide them an anchor to the lives they left in desperation." They continued, stating, "The book takes its formal cues from the self-help genre, but the adopting of that form’s unceasing optimism also nullifies any sense of depth or struggle. Fortunately, Hamid offers a subtle and rich look at the social realities of developing countries, including corruption, poverty, and how economic development affects daily life from top to bottom."{{Cite web |title=Fiction Book Review: How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid. Riverhead, $26.95 (240p) ISBN 978-1-59448-729-3 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-59448-729-3 |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=PublishersWeekly.com |language=en}} In their review of the audiobook, Publishers Weekly noted that while the novel's use of the second-person perspective can yield a "curious listening experience ... it works exceedingly well here because ... listeners wait with great anticipation to learn what will happen to 'you.'"{{Cite web |title=Fiction Book Review: How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid. Riverhead, $26.95 (240p) ISBN 978-1-59448-729-3 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-59448-729-3 |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=PublishersWeekly.com |language=en}}