Amy Ruth Tan (born on February 19, 1952) is an American author known for the novel '' The Joy Luck Club,'' which was adapted into a film of the same name, as well as other novels, short story collections, and children's books. Tan has written several other novels, including '' The Kitchen God's Wife'', '' The Hundred Secret Senses'', ''

The Bonesetter's Daughter ''The Bonesetter's Daughter'', published in 2001, is Amy Tan's fourth novel. Like much of Tan's work, this book deals with the relationship between an American-born Chinese woman and her immigrant mother. ''The Bonesetter's Daughter'' is divi ...

'', '' Saving Fish from Drowning'', and ''

The Valley of Amazement ''The Valley of Amazement'' is a novel by Amy Tan. Like many of her works, it deals with mother-daughter relationship and is partly set in historical China. An excerpt from the novel was published independently as ''Rules for Virgins''. Plot s ...

''. Tan's latest book is a memoir entitled ''Where The Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir'' (2017). In addition to these, Tan has written two

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

: ''The Moon Lady'' (1992) and '' Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat'' (1994), which was turned into an animated series that aired on PBS.

Early life and education

Tan was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

. She is the second of three children born to

Chinese immigrants Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, ...

John and Daisy Tan. Her father was an

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

minister who traveled to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in order to escape the chaos of the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on main ...

. Tan attended Marian A. Peterson High School in

Sunnyvale Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the nort ...

for one year. When she was fifteen years old, her father and older brother Peter both died of

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seco ...

s within six months of each other. Daisy subsequently moved Amy and her younger brother, John Jr., to Switzerland, where Amy finished high school at the

Institut Monte Rosa Institute Monte Rosa, commonly referred to as Monte Rosa or Monte, is a private, international boarding school, in Montreux, Switzerland. Overview Since 1874, Monte Rosa has been offering a wide range of academic programs in both general subje ...

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approxima ...

. During this period, Amy learned about her mother's previous marriage to another man in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, of their four children (a son who died as a toddler and three daughters), and how her mother left these children behind in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

. This incident was the basis for Tan's first novel '' The Joy Luck Club''. In 1987, Amy traveled with Daisy to China, where she met her three half-sisters. Tan had a difficult relationship with her mother. At one point, Daisy held a knife to Amy's throat and threatened to kill her while the two were arguing over Amy's new boyfriend. Her mother wanted Tan to be independent, stressing that Tan needed to make sure she was self-sufficient. Tan later found out that her mother had three abortions while in China. Daisy often threatened to kill herself, saying that she wanted to join her mother (Tan's grandmother, who died by suicide). She attempted suicide but never succeeded. Daisy died in 1999. Tan and her mother did not speak for six months after Tan dropped out of the Baptist college her mother had selected for her,

Linfield College Linfield University is a private university with campuses in McMinnville, and Portland, Oregon. Linfield Wildcats athletics participates in the NCAA Division III Northwest Conference. Linfield reported a combined 1,755 students after the fal ...

in Oregon, to follow her boyfriend to San Jose City College in California. Tan met him on a blind date and married him in 1974. Tan later received bachelor's and master's degrees in English and

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Ling ...

from San José State University. She took doctoral courses in linguistics at

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the ed ...

and

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

Career

While in school, Tan worked odd jobs—serving as a

switchboard operator In the early days of telephony, companies used manual telephone switchboards, and switchboard operators connected calls by inserting a pair of phone plugs into the appropriate jacks. They were gradually phased out and replaced by automated system ...

, carhop, bartender, and pizza maker—before starting a writing career. As a freelance business writer, she worked on projects for

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile ...

, IBM,

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...

, and

Pacific Bell The Pacific Bell Telephone Company (Pacific Bell or Pac Bell) is a telephone company that provides telephone service in California. The company is owned by AT&T through AT&T Teleholdings, and, though separate, is now marketed as “AT&T”. The ...

, writing under non-Chinese-sounding pseudonyms. Tan began writing her first novel, '' The Joy Luck Club'', while working as a business writer, and joined a writers' workshop, the Squaw Valley Program, to refine her draft. She submitted a part of the draft novel as a story titled 'Endgame' to the workshop''.'' Author

Molly Giles Molly Giles (born in 1942) is an American short story writer, novelist, and professor at the University of Arkansas. She formerly taught at San Francisco State University. She is the author of ''Creek Walk and Other Stories'' () published in 1997 a ...

, who was teaching at the workshop, encouraged Tan to send some of her writing to magazines. Stories by Tan, drawn from the manuscript of ''The'' ''Joy Luck Club'', were published by both FM Magazine and '' Seventeen,'' although a story was rejected by the ''New Yorker''''.'' Working with agent Sandra Dijkstra, Tan published several other parts of the novel as short stories, before it was sent as a draft novel manuscript. She received offers from several major publishing houses, including A.A. Knopf, Vintage, Harper & Row, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Simon and Schuster, and Putnam Books, but declined them all as they offered compensation that she and agent considered to be insufficient. She eventually accepted a second offer from Putnam Books, for $50,000 in December 1987. ''The Joy Luck Club'', consists of eight related stories about the experiences of four Chinese–American mother–daughter pairs. Tan's second novel, '' The Kitchen God's Wife'', also focuses on the relationship between an immigrant Chinese mother and her American-born daughter. Tan's third novel, '' The Hundred Secret Senses'', was a departure from the first two novels, in focusing on the relationships between sisters, inspired partly by one of the half-siblings Tan sponsored to the United States."Amy Tan" (interview) ''Seth Speaks Broadway!'' SiriusXM On Broadway, 16 May 2021. Tan's fourth novel, ''

'', returns to the theme of an immigrant Chinese woman and her American-born daughter. Tan was the "lead rhythm dominatrix", backup singer and second tambourine with the

Rock Bottom Remainders The Rock Bottom Remainders, also known as the Remainders, was an American rock charity supergroup, consisting of published writers, most of them both amateur musicians and popular English-language book, magazine, and newspaper authors. The band ...

literary garage band. Before the band retired from touring, it had raised more than a million dollars for literacy programs. Tan appeared as herself in the third episode of Season 12 of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

'', "

Insane Clown Poppy "Insane Clown Poppy" is the third episode of the twelfth season of the American television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 12, 2000. In the episode, during an outdoor book fair, Kru ...

." Tan's work has been adapted into several different forms of media. ''The Joy Luck Club'' was adapted into a play in 1993; that same year, director

Wayne Wang Wayne Wang (; born January 12, 1949) is a Hong Kong–American director, producer, and screenwriter. Considered a pioneer of Asian-American cinema, he was one of the first Chinese-American filmmakers to gain a major foothold in Hollywood ...

adapted the book into a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

. ''The Bonesetter's Daughter'' was adapted into an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

in 2008. Tan's children's book, '' Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat'' was adapted into an PBS animated television show, also named '' Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat''.

Other media

In May, 2021, the documentary, ''Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir'' was released, first on PBS, and later on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

Criticism

Tan has received criticism from some for her depiction of Chinese culture. Sau-ling Cynthia Wong, a professor at the

, wrote that Tan's novels "appear to possess the authority of authenticity but are often products of the American-born writer's own heavily mediated understanding of things Chinese".Wong, Sau-ling Cynthia (1995). "Sugar Sisterhood: Situating the Amy Tan Phenomenon". p. 55. She stated that the popularity of Tan's work can mostly be attributed to Western consumers "who find her work comforting in its reproduction of stereotypical images".Lee, Lily (2003). "Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: The Twentieth Century, 1912-2000". p. 503. Author

Frank Chin Frank Chin (born February 25, 1940) is an American author and playwright. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Asian-American theatre. Life and career Frank Chin was born in Berkeley, California on February 25, 1940; until the age of s ...

has said that the storylines of her novels "demonstrate a vested interest in casting Chinese men in the worst possible light".Yin, Xiao-huang (2000). "Chinese American Literature Since the 1850s''. p. 235. He has accused Tan of "pandering to the popular imagination" of Westerners regarding Chinese people.Huntley, E. D. (2001). "Maxine Hong Kingston: A Critical Companion". p. 58. Amy Tan has dismissed these criticisms, stating that her works are not intended to be viewed as representative of general Chinese/Asian American experiences.

Personal life

While Tan was studying at Berkeley, her roommate was murdered and Tan had to identify the body. The incident left her temporarily mute. She said that every year for ten years, on the anniversary of the day she identified the body, she lost her voice. In 1998, Tan contracted

Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a vector-borne disease caused by the '' Borrelia'' bacterium, which is spread by ticks in the genus '' Ixodes''. The most common sign of infection is an expanding red rash, known as erythema ...

, which went misdiagnosed for a few years. As a result, she suffers complications like

epileptic seizure An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with los ...

s. Tan co-founded LymeAid 4 Kids, which helps uninsured children pay for treatment. She wrote about her life with Lyme disease in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Tan also suffers from depression, for which she takes antidepressants. Part of the reason that Tan chose not to have children was a fear that she would pass on a genetic legacy of mental instability—her maternal grandmother died by suicide, her mother threatened suicide often, and she herself has struggled with

suicidal ideation Suicidal ideation, or suicidal thoughts, means having thoughts, ideas, or ruminations about the possibility of ending one's own life.World Health Organization, ''ICD-11 for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics'', ver. 09/2020MB26.A Suicidal ideatio ...

. Tan resides near

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

in Sausalito, California, with her husband Lou DeMattei (whom she married in 1974), in a house they designed "to feel open and airy, like a tree house, but also to be a place where we could live comfortably into old age" with accessibility features.

Bibliography

Short stories

*Mother Tongue *"

Fish Cheeks "Fish Cheeks" is a 1987 one-page narrative essay by Chinese-American author Amy Tan and her first published essay. The work was first published in '' Seventeen'' and covers a Christmas Eve dinner when Tan was 14 years old. It was subsequently publi ...

" (1987) * The Voice from the Wall * The Rules of the Game

Novels

* '' The Joy Luck Club'' (1989) * '' The Kitchen God's Wife'' (1991) * '' The Hundred Secret Senses'' (1995) * ''

'' (2001) * '' Saving Fish from Drowning'' (2005) * ''

'' (2013)

Children's books

* ''The Moon Lady'', illustrated by Gretchen Schields (1992) * '' Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat'', illustrated by Gretchen Schields (1994)

Non-fiction

* ''Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America With Three Chords and an Attitude'' (with Dave Barry, Stephen King, Tabitha King, Barbara Kingsolver) (1994) * ''Mother'' (with

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

Mary Higgins Clark Mary Higgins Clark (born Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins (December 24, 1927 – January 31, 2020) was an American author of suspense novels. Each of her 51 books was a bestseller in the United States and various European countries, and all of he ...

) (1996) * '' The Best American Short Stories 1999'' (Editor, with Katrina Kenison) (1999) * '' The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings'' (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2003, ) * ''Hard Listening'', co-authored in July 2013, an interactive ebook about her participation in a writer/musician band, the

. Published by

Coliloquy Coliloquy is a digital publishing house based in San Francisco, which specializes in interactive fiction. Lisa Rutherford and Waynn Lue co-founded the startup in January 2012. Coliloquy has published books from over 40 authors, among them Stephen ...

, LLC. * ''Where the Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir'', (HarperCollins Publishers, 2017, )

Awards

* 1989, Finalist

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

for ''The Joy Luck Club'' * 1989, Finalist National Book Critics Circle Award for ''The Joy Luck Club'' * Finalist ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' Fiction Prize * Bay Area Book Reviewers Award * Commonwealth Gold Award *

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

's Notable Books * American Library Association's Best Book for Young Adults * 2005–2006,

Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature The Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature (APAAL) are a set of literary awards presented annually by the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA). The APALA was formed in 1980 "to create an organization that would address the n ...

Honorable Mention for ''Saving Fish From Drowning'' * ''The Joy Luck Club'' selected for the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

' Big Read * ''

'' Notable Book * ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

'' Editors Choice * Finalist for the Orange Prize * Nominated for the Orange Prize * Nominated for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

* Audie Award: Best Non-fiction, Abridged * Parents' Choice Award, Best Television Program for Children * Shortlisted

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

award, best screenplay adaptation * Shortlisted WGA Award, best screenplay adaptation * 1996, Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

References

;General
The Bonesetters Daughter-The Opera

External links

*
'Reading in Reverse'
review of ''The Opposite of Fate'' in the ''

Oxonian Review ''The Oxonian Review'' is a literary magazine produced by postgraduate students at the University of Oxford. Every fortnight during term time, an online edition is published featuring reviews and essays on current affairs and literature. It is t ...

'' *
Teresa Miller television interview with Amy Tan (60 minutes)

Interview with Amy Tan
from the

Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

*
'I Am Full Of Contradictions': Novelist Amy Tan On Fate And Family
interview on ''

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to ...

'' (37 minutes) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tan, Amy 1952 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 20th-century Baptists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century Baptists 21st-century American women writers American children's writers American Christian writers American novelists of Chinese descent American people of Chinese descent American short story writers of Chinese descent American women essayists American women short story writers American women novelists Baptists from California Baptist writers Christian novelists Linfield University alumni Postmodern writers Rock Bottom Remainders members San Jose City College alumni San Jose State University alumni Speech and language pathologists University of California, Santa Cruz alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni American women children's writers Writers from Oakland, California 21st-century American essayists American women writers of Chinese descent