Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan

★★★★

*** WARNING!! This review contains spoilers!! ***

An entertaining read with short episodic chapters. Very easy to imagine this book as a hit streaming TV series! I think being a fan of the British TV show Midsomer Murders, with all their episodes featuring English country estates, helped me to enjoy this book even more, allowing me to easily imagine Greshamsbury Hall and the surrounding village.

Once again, Kwan brings us into the world of the uber rich, only this time, it's not just Asians in Asia, but also half-Asians as well as English landed aristocracy, international investors, and Persian-Iranian-Americans drowning in opulence in Hawaii, Morocco, Los Angeles, and Venice. I kept my phone handy to search up words and references I didn't recognize, from fashion and architecture terminology to famous people and places. This time, part of the fun of all the astonishing over-the-top luxury was the disapproval of the more social justice minded characters.

The narrator including each character's educational pedigree since nursery school with their first appearance was downright hilarious (I was disappointed when this feature dropped away in the LA part of the book), and frequent cheeky footnotes added an additional layer of humor. I actually laughed out loud a couple times.

I had every intention of giving this book 5 stars, until the festivities got to Venice. Everything suddenly got to be a bit much. Not that the characters had been very deep to begin with, but now their actions just felt like plot devices. By this point, the inevitable conclusion was obvious, and I was surprised to find myself losing interest, as the ending was not what I had hoped it would be.

*** Warning: Stop reading here to avoid spoilers!! ***

Even Arabella, as willfully oblivious as she was, should have been able to see that Eden didn't care enough about what other people think to be blackmail-able. And I had high hopes for Martha Dung, but she turned out to be not much more than yet another billionaire with an over-the-top lifestyle, willing to throw money at acquaintances she just met. Mostly, I didn't like how ultimately, it was okay for characters to choose love as long as everyone turned out to be secretly wealthy, thereby making them acceptable. I would have liked to have seen how Bea and Rufus - and all the Greshams, really - would have adjusted to life as "regular people", having to get jobs and live within their means. And in the end, I wanted more for Freddy Farman-Farmihian, who I found to be the most interesting character; I was impressed with how Kwan wrote him to elicit a specific first impression, and then developed him so that my opinion of him took an almost 180-degree turn.

Finally, I think there's a fun reference to a character from Crazy Rich Asians, making this book feel like a spin-off, or at least like it exists in the same universe.

Cheaper, Faster, Better: How We'll Win the Climate War by Tom Steyer

★★★★★

Tom Steyer really did give me hope!!

Picking up this book, all I knew about Tom Steyer was that he was the billionaire climate candidate in the Democratic primaries of the 2020 presidential election. 

After reading The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg, it became clear to me that saving the climate is at odds with capitalism, and we will never sufficiently address the climate crisis while fossil fuels are profitable and consumerism abounds. Moreover, we are now at a point where we need to implement sustainable practices even when there is no financial gain and when it's a less convenient option. But realistically, degrowth doesn't seem likely, so what are we going to do?

This book's title, then, got my attention. Can we really fix this climate emergency in the context of our capitalistic economy, on the basis of sustainability being cheaper and better? Indeed, Tom Steyer makes exactly that argument, even going so far as to say that clean energy is already a more profitable investment. 

The introduction immediately drew me in. Tom Steyer's optimism is infectious. He described what motivates him: "Protecting humanity from climate change is the fight of our lifetime. Am I doing my part?" (p. 4) The question each of us should be asking ourselves, each other, and our leaders is, "What are you doing to fight climate change?" (p. 4) Our first goal is to reach net zero (when global greenhouse emissions are entirely balanced out by the amount being removed from the atmosphere), and Steyer insists that clean-energy technology will get us there, and beyond. Not only that, he boldly claims, "if you care about getting rich, being part of the revolution taking place in energy is a pretty good way to do it." (p. 10) Like authors featured in The Climate Book, Steyer believes that "the climate movement is no longer about conservation... It's about making the world better than it's ever been before." (p. 11) And he wants you to know that it really is possible.

This book is a very approachable introduction to the climate crisis, how the oil and gas industry have so far misleadingly defined the narrative, and what we need to do in response. Every chapter includes a section highlighting specific climate people who are already doing important work to move us forward, including climate activists, researchers, and entrepreneurs in clean energy and other technologies that help reduce CO2 levels. 

I appreciate that Tom Steyer acknowledges that many "[y]oung people are furious - and rightly so - at older generations for leaving them a huge mess" (p. 84), making them particularly susceptible to despondency and a "climate doomer" mentality. Again, his optimism is unequivocal as he points out that "we're barely scratching the surface of what we can do. Our incomplete effort [at addressing the climate emergency] is already reshaping the way we create and use energy, revolutionizing transportation, making us rethink agriculture... Imagine what would happen if more people [got on board]." (p. 85)

At times, it felt like the book was intended for a moderately wealthy and privileged audience, which, arguably, is the demographic most responsible for carbon pollution and therefore the very people who could make the most difference. Yes, now is truly the time to invest in climate-conscious companies, install solar panels, make the switch to electric vehicles, even take a job in the climate sector; there is value in individual actions as testaments to personal commitment and as examples to others to help spur wider change, but, of course, not everyone is in a position to do those things. Thankfully, Steyer makes clear that "[t]urning a collective problem into a matter of individual responsibility is... exactly what the fossil fuel industry is trying to do... We need systemic change, not perfect people." (p. 133) He encourages everyone to be locally engaged and politically active, and he specifically discussed the power of state ballot measures as conduits of collective action for large-scale change.

While I really want to share Tom Steyer's sanguinity, it's hard to feel confident about the path we are on when even he admits that, generally speaking, most people won't act in the greater interest because "human beings are, let's face it, often driven by our own self-interests." (p. 160) But contrary to my thoughts on capitalism noted earlier, Steyer believes capitalism is exactly what will get people to act. He argues for a "climate capitalism" based on "better tech, better ideas, better rules, and better metrics" that will "shift the incentives so that even the most self-interested people make choices that help stabilize our planet and prevent human catastrophe." (p. 165) I know very little about economics or finance, so whether capitalism will ultimately be our undoing or our savior, what do I know!? All I can say is, it feels like a good thing, that there are climate people working on both sides of that debate, so there are solutions both within and outside of the existing system.

The bottom line is that we need forward-thinking leaders who will take immediate and bold action to enact policies, programs, and laws that will support clean energy and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, thereby incentivizing companies to make climate-friendly innovations and normalizing sustainable practices. We also need more of the general population to become climate-conscious, and Steyer offered up a number of suggestions for how best to meet others where they are, including focusing on the potential damage to people rather than nature or the weather and being aware of how specific word choices can make topics more accessible.

After reading this book, I am heartened, if not entirely convinced, that humanity can take action with enough urgency to possibly stave off the very worst of climate disaster, which is already underway. It's actually a relief to know that the technologies needed to address the climate crisis do, in fact, already exist or are being developed. What we need now is for all people to become "climate people" so that change can happen quickly and at scale.

Edited to add: I still think this book is worth reading, but urge anyone who reads it to also read Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World by Jason Hickel.