The Wangs Vs The World Summary
Jade Chang

The Wangs Vs The World Overview

The Wangs vs. the World is Jade Chang's debut novel about the family of Charles Wang, a Chinese immigrant who had everything but manages to lose it all. The novel follows the once-wealthy family as they undertake an ill-fated road trip across the country to live with the oldest daughter, Saina, who is the only one with anything left. This darkly comedic novel is a riches-to-rags story that interrogates what it means to be an immigrant and what it means to be American. As the Wangs are forced to deal with their new situation and come to terms with their disappointments in one another, the novel revises the trope of the all-American road trip as it explores an America on the verge of electing Barak Obama and reeling from financial collapse.