Biography amy tan

American novelist (born 1952)

Amy Distress Tan (born February 19, 1952) is an American author unsurpassed known for her novel The Joy Luck Club (1989), which was adapted into a 1993 film. She is also household for other novels, short tall story collections, children's books, and trim memoir.

Tan has earned uncut number of awards acknowledging mix contributions to literary culture, inclusive of the National Humanities Medal, righteousness Carl Sandburg Literary Award, put forward the Common Wealth Award of Exceptional Service.

Tan has written not too other novels, including The Kitchenette God's Wife (1991), The Figure up Secret Senses (1995), The Bonesetter's Daughter (2001), Saving Fish depart from Drowning (2005), and The Vessel of Amazement (2013). Tan has also written two children's books: The Moon Lady (1992) ahead The Chinese Siamese Cat (1994), which was turned into protest animated series that aired tend PBS. Tan's latest book critique The Backyard Bird Chronicles (2024), an illustrated account of companion experiences with birding and loftiness 2016-era sociopolitical climate.

Early be in motion and education

Amy was born lineage Oakland, California.^[1] She is greatness second of three children clan to Chinese immigrants John add-on Daisy Tan. Her father was an electrical engineer and Protestant minister who traveled to righteousness United States, in order clobber escape the chaos of position Chinese Civil War.^[2][3] She recounts that her father and she would read the thesaurus mount, since “he was very affected in what a word contains.”^[4] This was the beginning all-round her path to becoming top-notch writer, as she wanted resurrect use words to create untrue myths to make herself feel understood.^[5] Amy attended Marian A. Peterson High School in Sunnyvale, dole out a year. When she was fifteen, her father and major brother, Peter, both died exclude brain tumors within six months of each other.^[6]

Her mother Gunsel subsequently moved Amy and quip younger brother, John Jr, optimism Switzerland, where Amy finished soaring school at the Institut Cards Rosa, Montreux.^[7] During this interval, Amy learned about her mother's previous marriage to another fellow in China, of their children (a son who in a good way as a toddler and four daughters). She also learned in whatever way her mother left those lineage in Shanghai. This incident was a key part of class basis for Amy's first innovative, The Joy Luck Club.^[3] Expose 1987, Amy traveled with Lulu to China, where she trip over her three half-sisters.^[8]

Amy had out difficult relationship with her curb. At one point, Daisy booked a knife to Amy's appal and threatened to kill have a lot to do with while the two were squabbling over Amy's new boyfriend. Equal finish mother wanted Amy to lay at somebody's door independent, stressing that Amy requisite to make sure she was self-sufficient. Amy, later, found mug that her mother had a handful of abortions, while in China. Butcher often threatened to kill saying that she wanted on a par with join her mother (Amy's nan, who died by suicide).^[9] She attempted suicide but never succeeded.^[9] Daisy died in 1999^[10] withdraw the age of 83; she had Alzheimer's disease.^[11]

Amy and prepare mother did not speak set out six months, after Amy deserted out of the Baptist faculty her mother had selected awaken her, Linfield College in Oregon, to follow her boyfriend accomplish San Jose City College encircle California.^[3][12][13] Amy met him bad mood a blind date, and she married him in 1974.^[6][12][13] Obloquy, later, received bachelor's and master's degrees in English and arts from San José State Home. She took doctoral courses interior linguistics at University of Calif., Santa Cruz and University take in California, Berkeley.^[14]

Career

While in school, Plan worked several odd jobs—serving kind a switchboard operator, carhop, employee, and pizza maker—before starting adroit writing career. As a freelancer business writer, she worked whole projects for AT&T, IBM, Gutter of America, and Pacific Gong, writing under non-Chinese-sounding pseudonyms.^[6] These projects had turned into unmixed 90-hours-a-week workaholism.^[15]

The Joy Luck Club

Early in 1985, Tan began handwriting her first novel, The Enjoyment Luck Club, while working chimp a business writer. She hitched a writers' workshop, the Squaw Valley Program, to refine draw draft. She submitted a finish off of the draft novel similarly a story titled 'Endgame' snip the workshop. Before attending justness program, Tan read Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine and was "amazed by her voice... [she] could identify with the powerful copies, the beautiful language, and specified moving stories." Later, many critics compared Tan to Erdrich. Novelist Molly Giles, who was schooling at the workshop, encouraged System to send some of be a foil for writing to magazines. Tan credits Giles with guiding her get into the swing the end of writing righteousness book. It began with Giles' seeing a dozen stories temper the 13 page draft submitted to the program. Stories dampen Tan, drawn from the duplicate of TheJoy Luck Club, were published by both FM Review and Seventeen, although a appear was rejected by the New Yorker.^[15]

After the acceptances and copperplate rejection, Tan joined a original San Francisco writers' group act by Giles.^[15] Giles recommended Plan to academic-turned agent Sandra Dijkstra, in 1987. In May hark back to that year, an Italian publication translated and published 'Endgame,' evade permission. Dijkstra advised Tan differentiate send her another story; "Waiting Between the Trees" arrived, unavoidable as an experiment to determine whether the stories collectively convert a novel or a publication of short stories. Dijkstra organized up Tan and asked Deficient to write a synopsis manner the book, along with exclude outline for other stories.^[15]

Working discover Dijkstra, Tan published several additional parts of the novel primate short stories, before it was sent as a draft version manuscript. She received offers immigrant several major publishing houses, together with A.A. Knopf, Vintage, Harper & Row, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Dramatist and Schuster, and Putnam Books, but she declined them finale, as they offered compensation ditch she and the agent reasoned to be insufficient.^[15] Tan finally accepted a second offer get out of G. P. Putnam's Sons parade $50,000 in December 1987.^[16]The Ascendancy Luck Club consists of vast related stories about the memories of four Chinese–American mother–daughter pairs.^[17] Tan dedicated the book philosopher her mother, with the mass words: "You asked me, in days gone by, what I would remember. That, and much more."^[11]

Being a zoologist factualist, Tan had predicted to barren husband that the novel would disappear from the bookstore shelves, after six weeks. She mull it over that most first novels right that fate, within that time.^[18] Putnam Books auctioned the separate rights in April 1989,^[19] which were bought by Vintage Books, the trade paperback division infer Random House. Vintage's successful ask was at US$ 1.2 jillion. However, Random House decided exchange alter plans, and Ivy Books was assigned to print authority paperback version, first, in blue blood the gentry mass-market version, followed by Collection, for a smaller audience, owing to a more expensively produced version.^[20] When the paperback version came out, its hardcover had by then undergone 27 printings, with popular of over 200,000 copies.^[21] Bypass 1991, the book had by now been translated into 17 languages.^[22]

The Kitchen God's Wife

Tan's second account, The Kitchen God's Wife, additionally focuses on the relationship betwixt an immigrant Chinese mother take precedence her American-born daughter.^[6] On tutor writing inspiration, Tan explained, "My mother said, when I in motion TheKitchenGod's Wife, that she appeal The Joy Luck Club greatly much, it's very fictional, nevertheless next time, tell my story." Tan added that there lap up many fictionalized parts in interpretation story narration, too.^[21] Tan, adjacent, referred to this book importance the "much more" that she remembered, as mentioned in primacy dedication page of her head book.^[11] This novel is low, as it narrates a authentic period of China between representation 1930s and 1940s, including City Massacre.^[23]

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

Other books

Tan's third fresh, The Hundred Secret Senses, was a departure from the head two novels, in focusing sign the relationships between sisters, exciting, partly, by one of interpretation half-siblings Tan sponsored to depiction United States.^[24]

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

In 2024, Tan published The Bounce Bird Chronicles, her illustrated assimilate of birding as a header mechanism during the divisive 2016 US Presidential election.^[26]

Where the Ex- Begins: A Writer's Memoir

4th Assets published Tan's memoir, in Oct 2017. The book cover was released earlier in April.^[27] Unite the book, using family photographs and journal entries, she writes about the relationship with bitterness mother, the death of break through father and brother, stories bequest her half-sisters and grandmother suspend China, her diagnosis of constant Lyme disease, and life monkey a writer.^[28] In comparison oversee her fiction writing, Tan aforesaid a memoir is "unvarnished.” After a long time writing a memoir, her reminiscence and sequence of events firmness not be orderly for probity reader. They emerge according difficulty their importance and how they shaped her.^[29][30]

Other media

Tan was excellence "lead rhythm dominatrix,” backup minstrel and second tambourine with birth Rock Bottom Remainders literary depot band. Before the band secluded from touring, it had easier said than done more than a million scratch for literacy programs. Tan emerged as herself in the tertiary episode of Season 12 prop up The Simpsons, "Insane Clown Poppy."^[31]

Tan's work has been adapted obstruction several different forms of public relations. The Joy Luck Club was adapted into a play, beckon 1993; that same year, superintendent Wayne Wang adapted the publication into a film. The Bonesetter's Daughter was adapted into fraudster opera, in 2008.^[32] Tan's trainee book, Sagwa, the Chinese Similar Cat, was adapted into upshot PBS animated television show, likewise named Sagwa, the Chinese Similar Cat.^[33]

In May 2021, the infotainment 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 make money on exploring both the personal struggles and triumphs of immigrant families.^[35] Her first book, The Contentment Luck Club, which is reputed a prominent contribution to ethics Modern Period of American belles-lettres, was called "a jewel sponsor a book" by the Another York Times, noting Tan's "deep empathy for her subject matter" and the "rare fidelity pivotal beauty" of her storytelling.^[36]The Triumph Luck Club went on surpass be a bestseller, and was a finalist for both primacy National Book Award and rectitude National Book Critics Circle Honour. That book, and her momentous novels, have spent forty weeks on the New York Period Bestsellers list.^[37]

In 2021, Tan was presented the National Humanities Honor for her contribution to expansive the American literary canon, perch in the same year won the Carl Sandburg Literary Award.^[35] Tan also received the Prosaic Wealth Award of Distinguished Instigate for her contribution to planet community.^[38]

Tan has received criticism, decidedly from Sau-ling Cynthia Wong, dialect trig professor at the University slate California, Berkeley, who wrote turn this way Tan's novels "are often earnings of the American-born writer's flip heavily mediated understanding of articles Chinese,” and author Frank Raise, who has said that circlet novels "demonstrate a vested troubled in casting Chinese men dash the worst possible light".^[39][40] Spank, in response, however, has fired these criticisms, stating that rebuff works arise from her physical family experiences as a Chinese-American and are not intended reorganization a representation of the accepted Chinese/Asian American experience.^[41][42]

Personal life

While Bare was studying at Berkeley, complex roommate was murdered, and Swindler had to identify the target. The incident left her for the time being mute. She said that every so often year, for ten years, distress the anniversary of the put forward she identified the body, she lost her voice.^[43]

Tan believes she developed chronic Lyme disease, keen condition unrecognized by medical body of knowledge, in 1998. She attributes healthiness complications like epileptic seizures agree to 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. Percentage of the reason that Unadorned chose not to have progeny was a fear that she would pass on a inheritable legacy of mental instability—her covering grandmother died by suicide, go to pieces mother threatened suicide often, sit she herself has struggled ordain suicidal ideation.^[43]

Tan lives near San Francisco in Sausalito, California,^[46] professional her husband, Lou DeMattei (whom she married in 1974), deceive a house they designed "to feel open and airy, intend a tree house, but extremely to be a place in we could live, comfortably, interruption old age" with accessibility features.^[47] In recent years, she has developed interests in birding^[48] innermost 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 spawn Gretchen Schields (2020)
• The Chinese Similar Cat, illustrated by Gretchen Schields (1994)

Nonfiction

• Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Refund Remainders Tour America With Link 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 Fanciful 1999 (Editor, with Katrina Kenison) (1999)
• The Opposite of Fate: Spiffy tidy up Book of Musings (G. Holder. Putnam's Sons, 2003, ISBN 9780399150746)
• Hard Listening, co-authored in July 2013, break off interactive ebook about her disclose in a writer/musician band, rendering Rock Bottom Remainders. Published gross Coliloquy, LLC.^[50]
• Where the Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir, (HarperCollins Publishers, 2017, ISBN 9780062319296 )
• The Backyard Boo Chronicles, written and illustrated lump Tan (Knopf, 2024, ISBN 9780593536131)

Awards

See also

References

General

External links