Charles Wang built a hugely successful cosmetics company after coming to the U.S. from China. After some poor business choices, however, multiplied by the bottom dropping out of the economy, he is officially bankrupt. The only thing to do? Round up his family and return to China to claim his ancestral lands. It turns out that the Wangs cant function without the trappings of their now-lost lavish lifestyle, a situation that gives the road trip a decidedly wacky bent and infuses the novel with humor.