Chapter 1 summary

Chapter 1, Move to the City – Written in second-person narration by an unnamed narrator, with the reader (referred to hereafter as “you”) assuming the role of the main character, the narrator begins by speaking about how self-help books can lead you into a slippery world of more self-help books. Narration goes on to tell you, a young boy, that this is one such self-help book about getting rich in rising Asia. The narrator explains that to accomplish this requires starting at the beginning, where you are the child of impoverished parents. Your father is usually away working as a cook in the city. He comes home to visit only three or four times a year. HIs cannot support bringing everyone to live in the city. Your rural village is alongside a filthy, polluted creek, and is one of only many that draw water from and pollute the creek. The men who work in the city come home each year to help with the harvest, for they owe rent to their landlords who most do not even look in the eye. Your mother is stubborn and vain, and she constantly clashes with her mother-in-law. You may feel powerless and doubtful of change, but change is coming, and this book will offer you a choice. Even though you are ill, you tell your father that you are well, taking your destiny into your own hands. A month later, you are well. Your father is earning just enough to bring everyone to the city to live. The narrator tells you that moving to the city is the first step to getting rich in Asia.