Agreed. What you say is true of all such books. If Lee Kuan Yew asks me to write a book about him, the publishers would come running and the books would sell in quantity. Books about famous people and celebrities are the most successful. But, hey - there are plenty of "lesser mortals" in Escape from Paradise such as Singapore "stud muffin" lawyer Koh Tien Hua - a good guy, but still, at least for now, a "lesser" mortal.
The characters in Escape From Paradise are not about "lesser mortals"
If it were there wouldn't be so much interest in the book.