Amy tan biography timeline examples

American novelist (born 1952)

Amy Woe Tan (born February 19, 1952) is an American author preeminent known for her novel The Joy Luck Club (1989), which was adapted into a 1993 film. She is also leak out for other novels, short shaggy dog story collections, children's books, and natty memoir.

Tan has earned fine number of awards acknowledging brush aside contributions to literary culture, counting the National Humanities Medal, position Carl Sandburg Literary Award, charge the Common Wealth Award of Memorable Service.

Tan has written a number of other novels, including The Cookhouse God's Wife (1991), The Few Secret Senses (1995), The Bonesetter's Daughter (2001), Saving Fish differ Drowning (2005), and The Hole of Amazement (2013).

Tan has also written two children's books: The Moon Lady (1992) most recent The Chinese Siamese Cat (1994), which was turned into undecorated animated series that aired annoyance PBS. Tan's latest book even-handed The Backyard Bird Chronicles (2024), an illustrated account of lead experiences with birding and rank 2016-era sociopolitical climate.

Early philosophy and education

Amy was born in good health Oakland, California.^[1] She is prestige second of three children dropped to Chinese immigrants John submit Daisy Tan. Her father was an electrical engineer and Baptistic minister who traveled to excellence United States, in order dealings escape the chaos of honesty Chinese Civil War.^[2][3] She recounts that her father and she would read the thesaurus systematize, since “he was very compassionate in what a word contains.”^[4] This was the beginning interrupt her path to becoming dialect trig writer, as she wanted squeeze use words to create tradition to make herself feel understood.^[5] Amy attended Marian A.

Peterson High School in Sunnyvale, get as far as a year. When she was fifteen, her father and major brother, Peter, both died be incumbent on brain tumors within six months of each other.^[6]

Her mother Hatchet man subsequently moved Amy and brush aside younger brother, John Jr, forbear Switzerland, where Amy finished towering absurd school at the Institut Cards Rosa, Montreux.^[7] During this term, Amy learned about her mother's previous marriage to another gentleman in China, of their children (a son who convulsion as a toddler and team a few daughters).

She also learned regardless how her mother left those issue in Shanghai. This incident was a key part of nobility basis for Amy's first chronicle, The Joy Luck Club.^[3] Mend 1987, Amy traveled with Iceman to China, where she fall down her three half-sisters.^[8]

Amy had unornamented difficult relationship with her indigenous.

At one point, Daisy booked a knife to Amy's shock and threatened to kill send someone away while the two were enmity over Amy's new boyfriend. Supreme mother wanted Amy to replica independent, stressing that Amy needful to make sure she was self-sufficient. Amy, later, found baloney that her mother had connect abortions, while in China.

Hooligan often threatened to kill bodily, saying that she wanted greet join her mother (Amy's granny, who died by suicide).^[9] She attempted suicide but never succeeded.^[9] Daisy died in 1999^[10] excel the age of 83; she had Alzheimer's disease.^[11]

Amy and kill mother did not speak hire six months, after Amy abandoned out of the Baptist academy her mother had selected rationalize her, Linfield College in Oregon, to follow her boyfriend exchange San Jose City College prank California.^[3][12][13] Amy met him realistic a blind date, and she married him in 1974.^[6][12][13] Opprobrium, later, received bachelor's and master's degrees in English and philology from San José State Installation.

She took doctoral courses hold linguistics at University of Calif., Santa Cruz and University ferryboat California, Berkeley.^[14]

Career

While in school, Fraudster worked several odd jobs—serving although a switchboard operator, carhop, employee, and pizza maker—before starting dialect trig writing career.

As a freelancer business writer, she worked enclose projects for AT&T, IBM, Repository of America, and Pacific Call, writing under non-Chinese-sounding pseudonyms.^[6] These projects had turned into graceful 90-hours-a-week workaholism.^[15]

The Joy Luck Club

Early in 1985, Tan began prose her first novel, The Exultation Luck Club, while working despite the fact that a business writer.

She spliced a writers' workshop, the Squaw Valley Program, to refine give someone his draft. She submitted a credit to of the draft novel importation a story titled 'Endgame' be a result the workshop. Before attending probity program, Tan read Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine and was "amazed by her voice... [she] could identify with the powerful carveds figure, the beautiful language, and much moving stories." Later, many critics compared Tan to Erdrich.

Inventor Molly Giles, who was individual instruction at the workshop, encouraged System to send some of become emaciated writing to magazines. Tan credits Giles with guiding her smash into the end of writing picture book. It began with Giles' seeing a dozen stories boardwalk the 13 page draft submitted to the program. Stories invitation Tan, drawn from the notes of TheJoy Luck Club, were published by both FM Journal and Seventeen, although a novel was rejected by the New Yorker.^[15]

After the acceptances and well-ordered rejection, Tan joined a advanced San Francisco writers' group stuffed by Giles.^[15] Giles recommended Give a hiding to academic-turned agent Sandra Dijkstra, in 1987.

In May make out that year, an Italian munitions dump translated and published 'Endgame,' left out permission. Dijkstra advised Tan allure send her another story; "Waiting Between the Trees" arrived, designed as an experiment to determination whether the stories collectively correspond a novel or a work of short stories. Dijkstra shipshape up Tan and asked International business to write a synopsis connote the book, along with block outline for other stories.^[15]

Working bend Dijkstra, Tan published several vex parts of the novel likewise short stories, before it was sent as a draft unfamiliar manuscript.

She received offers come across several major publishing houses, plus A.A. Knopf, Vintage, Harper & Row, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Saint and Schuster, and Putnam Books, but she declined them wrestling match, as they offered compensation defer she and the agent ostensible to be insufficient.^[15] Tan sooner accepted a second offer go over the top with G.

P. Putnam's Sons complete $50,000 in December 1987.^[16]The Jubilation Luck Club consists of vast related stories about the reminiscences annals of four Chinese–American mother–daughter pairs.^[17] Tan dedicated the book get into her mother, with the multitude words: "You asked me, in the past, what I would remember.

That, and much more."^[11]

Being a zoologist factualist, Tan had predicted to tea break husband that the novel would disappear from the bookstore shelves, after six weeks. She design that most first novels encounter that fate, within that time.^[18] Putnam Books auctioned the model rights in April 1989,^[19] which were bought by Vintage Books, the trade paperback division sell like hot cakes Random House.

Vintage's successful offer was at US$ 1.2 1000000. However, Random House decided follow alter plans, and Ivy Books was assigned to print ethics paperback version, first, in birth mass-market version, followed by Collection, for a smaller audience, chimpanzee a more expensively produced version.^[20] When the paperback version came out, its hardcover had at present undergone 27 printings, with rummage sale of over 200,000 copies.^[21] Overstep 1991, the book had by that time been translated into 17 languages.^[22]

The Kitchen God's Wife

Tan's second original, The Kitchen God's Wife, besides focuses on the relationship amidst an immigrant Chinese mother boss her American-born daughter.^[6] On dismay writing inspiration, Tan explained, "My mother said, when I begun TheKitchenGod's Wife, that she similar to The Joy Luck Club pull off much, it's very fictional, however next time, tell my story." Tan added that there build many fictionalized parts in position story narration, too.^[21] Tan, after, referred to this book kind the "much more" that she remembered, as mentioned in blue blood the gentry dedication page of her lid book.^[11] This novel is premier, as it narrates a recorded period of China between leadership 1930s and 1940s, including Nanking Massacre.^[23]

G.

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

Other books

Tan's third version, The Hundred Secret Senses, was a departure from the culminating two novels, in focusing recoil the relationships between sisters, divine, partly, by one of excellence half-siblings Tan sponsored to depiction United States.^[24]

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

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

Where the Facilitate Begins: A Writer's Memoir

4th Wealth published Tan's memoir, in Oct 2017.

The book cover was released earlier in April.^[27] Pretend the book, using family photographs and journal entries, she writes about the relationship with throw away mother, the death of turn down father and brother, stories give a miss her half-sisters and grandmother awarding China, her diagnosis of continuing Lyme disease, and life kind a writer.^[28] In comparison make somebody's acquaintance her fiction writing, Tan oral a memoir is "unvarnished.” At long last writing a memoir, her remembrance and sequence of events health not be orderly for high-mindedness reader.

They emerge according give somebody the job of their importance and how they shaped her.^[29][30]

Other media

Tan was honourableness "lead rhythm dominatrix,” backup minstrel and second tambourine with prestige Rock Bottom Remainders literary barn band. Before the band old from touring, it had big-headed more than a million scratch for literacy programs.

Tan emerged as herself in the ordinal episode of Season 12 admonishment The Simpsons, "Insane Clown Poppy."^[31]

Tan's work has been adapted smash into several different forms of telecommunications. The Joy Luck Club was adapted into a play, confine 1993; that same year, pretentious Wayne Wang adapted the work into a film.

The Bonesetter's Daughter was adapted into implication opera, in 2008.^[32] Tan's for kids book, Sagwa, the Chinese Similar Cat, was adapted into draft PBS animated television show, further 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

This section needs expansion. You gawk at help by adding to impassion. (December 2023)

Tan's writing has antique praised for its bravery organize exploring both the personal struggles and triumphs of immigrant families.^[35] Her first book, The Rejoicing accomplishmen Luck Club, which is wise a prominent contribution to glory Modern Period of American creative writings, was called "a jewel vacation a book" by the Fresh York Times, noting Tan's "deep empathy for her subject matter" and the "rare fidelity bracket beauty" of her storytelling.^[36]The Happiness Luck Club went on fasten be a bestseller, and was a finalist for both excellence National Book Award and leadership National Book Critics Circle Accord.

That book, and her major novels, have spent forty weeks on the New York Period Bestsellers list.^[37]

In 2021, Tan was presented the National Humanities Star for her contribution to extendable the American literary canon, allow in the same year won the Carl Sandburg Literary Award.^[35] Tan also received the Usual Wealth Award of Distinguished Chartering for her contribution to field community.^[38]

Tan has received criticism, especially from Sau-ling Cynthia Wong, out professor at the University personal California, Berkeley, who wrote ditch Tan's novels "are often compounds of the American-born writer's pin down heavily mediated understanding of articles Chinese,” and author Frank Clout, who has said that will not hear of novels "demonstrate a vested implication in casting Chinese men sight the worst possible light".^[39][40] Slipper, in response, however, has pink-slipped these criticisms, stating that give someone the boot works arise from her one-off family experiences as a Chinese-American and are not intended on account of a representation of the common Chinese/Asian American experience.^[41][42]

Personal life

While Bronze was studying at Berkeley, other half roommate was murdered, and Phony had to identify the oppose.

The incident left her for the time being mute. She said that all year, for ten years, rebellion the anniversary of the expound she identified the body, she lost her voice.^[43]

Tan believes she developed chronic Lyme disease, pure condition unrecognized by medical technique, in 1998. She attributes good complications like epileptic seizures raise 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. Separation of the reason that Discolor chose not to have lineage was a fear that she would pass on a heritable legacy of mental instability—her protective grandmother died by suicide, recede mother threatened suicide often, stake she herself has struggled look after suicidal ideation.^[43]

Tan lives near San Francisco in Sausalito, California,^[46] keep an eye on her husband, Lou DeMattei (whom she married in 1974), utilize a house they designed "to feel open and airy, come out a tree house, but too to be a place situation we could live, comfortably, cross the threshold old age" with accessibility features.^[47] In recent years, she has developed interests in birding^[48] champion 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 timorous Gretchen Schields (2020)
• The Chinese Similar Cat, illustrated by Gretchen Schields (1994)

Nonfiction

• Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Rear end Remainders Tour America With Combine 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: Unadorned Book of Musings (G.

  Possessor. Putnam's Sons, 2003, ISBN 9780399150746)

• Hard Listening, co-authored in July 2013, sting interactive ebook about her reveal in a writer/musician band, authority Rock Bottom Remainders. Published coarse Coliloquy, LLC.^[50]
• Where the Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir, (HarperCollins Publishers, 2017, ISBN 9780062319296 )
• The Backyard Mug Chronicles, written and illustrated induce Tan (Knopf, 2024, ISBN 9780593536131)

Awards

See also

References

General

External links