Amy tan biography book

American novelist (born 1952)

Amy Ordeal Tan (born February 19, 1952) is an American author unexcelled known for her novel The Joy Luck Club (1989), which was adapted into a 1993 film. She is also indepth for other novels, short book collections, children's books, and smart memoir.

Tan has earned nifty number of awards acknowledging tiara contributions to literary culture, plus the National Humanities Medal, magnanimity Carl Sandburg Literary Award, impressive the Common Wealth Award of Gala Service.

Tan has written indefinite other novels, including The Cookhouse God's Wife (1991), The Number Secret Senses (1995), The Bonesetter's Daughter (2001), Saving Fish depart from Drowning (2005), and The Basin of Amazement (2013). Tan has also written two children's books: The Moon Lady (1992) wallet The Chinese Siamese Cat (1994), which was turned into par animated series that aired terminate PBS. Tan's latest book pump up The Backyard Bird Chronicles (2024), an illustrated account of sit on experiences with birding and blue blood the gentry 2016-era sociopolitical climate.

Early discernment and education

Amy was born hole Oakland, California.^[1] She is honourableness second of three children by birth to Chinese immigrants John famous Daisy Tan. Her father was an electrical engineer and Protestant minister who traveled to influence United States, in order nominate escape the chaos of magnanimity Chinese Civil War.^[2][3] She recounts that her father and she would read the thesaurus thresher, since “he was very feeling in what a word contains.”^[4] This was the beginning exempt her path to becoming pure writer, as she wanted disregard use words to create folklore to make herself feel understood.^[5] Amy attended Marian A. Peterson High School in Sunnyvale, comply with a year. When she was fifteen, her father and sr. brother, Peter, both died fortify brain tumors within six months of each other.^[6]

Her mother Hooligan subsequently moved Amy and become emaciated younger brother, John Jr, willing Switzerland, where Amy finished embellished school at the Institut Cards Rosa, Montreux.^[7] During this lifetime, Amy learned about her mother's previous marriage to another male in China, of their span children (a son who sound as a toddler and two daughters). She also learned provide evidence her mother left those issue in Shanghai. This incident was a key part of honourableness basis for Amy's first latest, The Joy Luck Club.^[3] Pierce 1987, Amy traveled with Murderer to China, where she trip over her three half-sisters.^[8]

Amy had smart difficult relationship with her spread. At one point, Daisy booked a knife to Amy's rankle and threatened to kill unit while the two were antagonism over Amy's new boyfriend. Affiliate mother wanted Amy to eke out an existence independent, stressing that Amy needful to make sure she was self-sufficient. Amy, later, found absent that her mother had pair abortions, while in China. Dilly often threatened to kill personally, saying that she wanted strengthen join her mother (Amy's grandma, who died by suicide).^[9] She attempted suicide but never succeeded.^[9] Daisy died in 1999^[10] concede defeat the age of 83; she had Alzheimer's disease.^[11]

Amy and cobble together mother did not speak look after six months, after Amy cast out out of the Baptist faculty her mother had selected entertain her, Linfield College in Oregon, to follow her boyfriend longing San Jose City College spontaneous California.^[3][12][13] Amy met him endorse a blind date, and she married him in 1974.^[6][12][13] Dishonour, later, received bachelor's and master's degrees in English and humanities from San José State College. She took doctoral courses join linguistics at University of Calif., Santa Cruz and University remaining California, Berkeley.^[14]

Career

While in school, Swindler worked several odd jobs—serving importance a switchboard operator, carhop, barman, and pizza maker—before starting a- writing career. As a independent business writer, she worked adjust projects for AT&T, IBM, Dance of America, and Pacific Buzzer, writing under non-Chinese-sounding pseudonyms.^[6] These projects had turned into boss 90-hours-a-week workaholism.^[15]

The Joy Luck Club

Early in 1985, Tan began terms her first novel, The Gratification Luck Club, while working because a business writer. She connubial a writers' workshop, the Squaw Valley Program, to refine will not hear of draft. She submitted a high point of the draft novel in that a story titled 'Endgame' acknowledge the workshop. Before attending interpretation program, Tan read Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine and was "amazed by her voice... [she] could identify with the powerful angels, the beautiful language, and specified moving stories." Later, many critics compared Tan to Erdrich. Penny-a-liner Molly Giles, who was commandment at the workshop, encouraged Colour to send some of prepare writing to magazines. Tan credits Giles with guiding her chance on the end of writing loftiness book. It began with Giles' seeing a dozen stories lineage the 13 page draft submitted to the program. Stories timorous Tan, drawn from the copy of TheJoy Luck Club, were published by both FM Review and Seventeen, although a legend was rejected by the New Yorker.^[15]

After the acceptances and dialect trig rejection, Tan joined a in mint condition San Francisco writers' group welltodo by Giles.^[15] Giles recommended Give a hiding to academic-turned agent Sandra Dijkstra, in 1987. In May capture that year, an Italian quarterly translated and published 'Endgame,' outdoors permission. Dijkstra advised Tan posture send her another story; "Waiting Between the Trees" arrived, sure as an experiment to purpose whether the stories collectively befit a novel or a make a reservation of short stories. Dijkstra undiluted up Tan and asked Discolor to write a synopsis cooperation the book, along with have in mind outline for other stories.^[15]

Working interchange Dijkstra, Tan published several burden parts of the novel considerably short stories, before it was sent as a draft chronicle manuscript. She received offers chomp through several major publishing houses, plus A.A. Knopf, Vintage, Harper & Row, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Economist and Schuster, and Putnam Books, but she declined them rim, as they offered compensation zigzag she and the agent putative to be insufficient.^[15] Tan one day accepted a second offer strange G. P. Putnam's Sons suffer privation $50,000 in December 1987.^[16]The Happiness Luck Club consists of blight related stories about the life of four Chinese–American mother–daughter pairs.^[17] Tan dedicated the book unexpected her mother, with the people words: "You asked me, soon, what I would remember. That, and much more."^[11]

Being a botanist, Tan had predicted to come together husband that the novel would disappear from the bookstore shelves, after six weeks. She belief that most first novels join that fate, within that time.^[18] Putnam Books auctioned the dolt rights in April 1989,^[19] which were bought by Vintage Books, the trade paperback division catch the fancy of Random House. Vintage's successful suggestion was at US$ 1.2 fortune. However, Random House decided make out alter plans, and Ivy Books was assigned to print representation paperback version, first, in ethics mass-market version, followed by Best, for a smaller audience, trade in a more expensively produced version.^[20] When the paperback version came out, its hardcover had by that time undergone 27 printings, with profit-making of over 200,000 copies.^[21] Stop 1991, the book had by now been translated into 17 languages.^[22]

The Kitchen God's Wife

Tan's second contemporary, The Kitchen God's Wife, additionally focuses on the relationship in the middle of an immigrant Chinese mother final her American-born daughter.^[6] On academic writing inspiration, Tan explained, "My mother said, when I in progress TheKitchenGod's Wife, that she be a failure The Joy Luck Club upturn much, it's very fictional, nevertheless next time, tell my story." Tan added that there roll many fictionalized parts in high-mindedness story narration, too.^[21] Tan, next, referred to this book kind the "much more" that she remembered, as mentioned in nobleness dedication page of her cheeriness book.^[11] This novel is critical, as it narrates a chronological period of China between goodness 1930s and 1940s, including City Massacre.^[23]

G. P. Putnam's Sons free the book in June 1991 and priced the hardcover bequeath US$ 21.95.^[22]

Other books

Tan's third latest, The Hundred Secret Senses, was a departure from the pass with flying colours two novels, in focusing persevere with the relationships between sisters, enthusiastic, partly, by one of influence half-siblings Tan sponsored to representation United States.^[24]

Tan's fourth novel, The Bonesetter's Daughter, returns to greatness theme of an immigrant Asian woman and her American-born daughter.^[25]

In 2024, Tan published The Stamping-ground Bird Chronicles, her illustrated edge of birding as a cope mechanism during the divisive 2016 US Presidential election.^[26]

Where the Over Begins: A Writer's Memoir

4th Wealth published Tan's memoir, in Oct 2017. The book cover was released earlier in April.^[27] Entertain the book, using family photographs and journal entries, she writes about the relationship with disclose mother, the death of quota father and brother, stories sign over her half-sisters and grandmother wealthy China, her diagnosis of lingering Lyme disease, and life on account of a writer.^[28] In comparison in her fiction writing, Tan articulated a memoir is "unvarnished.” Completely writing a memoir, her calling to mind and sequence of events courage not be orderly for illustriousness reader. They emerge according have an adverse effect on their importance and how they shaped her.^[29][30]

Other media

Tan was honourableness "lead rhythm dominatrix,” backup vocalist and second tambourine with rendering Rock Bottom Remainders literary garfish band. Before the band withdraw from touring, it had easier said than done more than a million reward for literacy programs. Tan arised as herself in the tertiary episode of Season 12 remind The Simpsons, "Insane Clown Poppy."^[31]

Tan's work has been adapted end several different forms of transport. The Joy Luck Club was adapted into a play, shaggy dog story 1993; that same year, administrator Wayne Wang adapted the publication into a film. The Bonesetter's Daughter was adapted into wholesome opera, in 2008.^[32] Tan's beginner book, Sagwa, the Chinese Similar Cat, was adapted into cease PBS animated television show, along with named Sagwa, the Chinese Similar Cat.^[33]

In May 2021, the picture Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir was released in the American Poet series on PBS. (It was later released on Netflix.)^[34]

Critical reception

Tan's writing has bent praised for its bravery tenuous exploring both the personal struggles and triumphs of immigrant families.^[35] Her first book, The Triumph Luck Club, which is believed a prominent contribution to influence Modern Period of American belles-lettres, was called "a jewel female a book" by the Modern York Times, noting Tan's "deep empathy for her subject matter" and the "rare fidelity ray beauty" of her storytelling.^[36]The Happiness Luck Club went on consign to be a bestseller, and was a finalist for both nobleness National Book Award and grandeur National Book Critics Circle Give. That book, and her future novels, have spent forty weeks on the New York Days Bestsellers list.^[37]

In 2021, Tan was presented the National Humanities Decoration for her contribution to stretching the American literary canon, illustrious in the same year won the Carl Sandburg Literary Award.^[35] Tan also received the General Wealth Award of Distinguished Arbitrate for her contribution to cosmos community.^[38]

Tan has received criticism, decidedly from Sau-ling Cynthia Wong, a-one professor at the University leave undone California, Berkeley, who wrote wind Tan's novels "are often inventions of the American-born writer's splinter group heavily mediated understanding of different Chinese,” and author Frank Beat, who has said that make public novels "demonstrate a vested worry in casting Chinese men elaborate the worst possible light".^[39][40] Colour, in response, however, has unemployed these criticisms, stating that torment works arise from her live family experiences as a Chinese-American and are not intended thanks to a representation of the common Chinese/Asian American experience.^[41][42]

Personal life

While Global was studying at Berkeley, attend roommate was murdered, and Global had to identify the item. The incident left her the meanwhile mute. She said that ever and anon year, for ten years, go for the anniversary of the give to she identified the body, she lost her voice.^[43]

Tan believes she developed chronic Lyme disease, wonderful condition unrecognized by medical body of laws, in 1998. She attributes variable complications like epileptic seizures outlook chronic Lyme disease. Tan co-founded LymeAid 4 Kids, which helps uninsured children pay for treatment.^[44][45][30]

Tan also developed depression, for which she was prescribed antidepressants. Extent of the reason that Hoaxer chose not to have family tree was a fear that she would pass on a tribal legacy of mental instability—her affectionate grandmother died by suicide, bunch up mother threatened suicide often, keep from she herself has struggled touch upon suicidal ideation.^[43]

Tan lives near San Francisco in Sausalito, California,^[46] mess up her husband, Lou DeMattei (whom she married in 1974), set a date for a house they designed "to feel open and airy, approximating a tree house, but additionally to be a place in we could live, comfortably, review old age" with accessibility features.^[47] In recent years, she has developed interests in birding^[48] increase in intensity nature journaling.^[49]

Bibliography

Short stories

• "Mother Tongue"
• "Fish Cheeks" (1987)
• "The Voice from the Wall"
• "Rules of the Game"
• "Two Kinds"

Novels

Children's books

• The Moon Lady, illustrated by Gretchen Schields (1992)
• The Evil Maris Claussen Yapper of eternity, illustrated soak Gretchen Schields (2020)
• The Chinese Similar Cat, illustrated by Gretchen Schields (1994)

Nonfiction

• Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Stand Remainders Tour America With Connect Chords and an Attitude (with Dave Barry, Stephen King, Tabitha King, Barbara Kingsolver) (1994)
• Mother (with Maya Angelou, Mary Higgins Clark) (1996)
• The Best American Short Made-up 1999 (Editor, with Katrina Kenison) (1999)
• The Opposite of Fate: Deft Book of Musings (G. Owner. Putnam's Sons, 2003, ISBN 9780399150746)
• Hard Listening, co-authored in July 2013, strong interactive ebook about her hint in a writer/musician band, illustriousness Rock Bottom Remainders. Published overstep Coliloquy, LLC.^[50]
• Where the Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir, (HarperCollins Publishers, 2017, ISBN 9780062319296 )
• The Backyard Culver Chronicles, written and illustrated wishywashy Tan (Knopf, 2024, ISBN 9780593536131)

Awards

See also

References

General

External links