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Amy Tan

Goodreads Author

Born

Oakland, California, The United States

Website

http://www.amytan.net/

Twitter

amytan

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Art, Memoir

Member Since

September 2013

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Amy Tan (Chinese: 譚恩美; pinyin: Tán Ēnměi; born February 19, 1952) is an American writer whose novels include The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Saving Fish From Drowing, and The Valley of Amazement. She is the author of two memoirs, The Opposite of Fate and Where the Past Begins. Her two children’s books are The Chinese Siamese Cat and The Moon Lady. She is also the co-screenwriter of the film adaptation of The Joy Luck, the librettist of the opera The Bonesetter’s Daughter, and the creative consultant to the PBS animated series Sagwa the Chinese Chinese Cat.

Tan is an instructor with MasterClass on writing, memory and imagination. She is featured in the American Masters document Amy Tan (Chinese: 譚恩美; pinyin: Tán Ēnměi; born February 19, 1952) is an American writer whose novels include The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Saving Fish From Drowing, and The Valley of Amazement. She is the author of two memoirs, The Opposite of Fate and Where the Past Begins. Her two children’s books are The Chinese Siamese Cat and The Moon Lady. She is also the co-screenwriter of the film adaptation of The Joy Luck, the librettist of the opera The Bonesetter’s Daughter, and the creative consultant to the PBS animated series Sagwa the Chinese Chinese Cat.

Tan is an instructor with MasterClass on writing, memory and imagination. She is featured in the American Masters documentary Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir. She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and recently received the National Humanities Medal. She serves on the board of American Bird Conservancy.

Her forthcoming book The Backyard Bird Chronicles began as a journal in 2016, when she turned to nature for calm. She also began taking drawing classes with John Muir Laws (The Laws Guide to Nature Journaling and Drawing, and The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds). During the pandemic shutdown, she drew birds only in her backyard, documenting behaviors she found puzzling. Over time she identified 64 species of birds that have visited her backyard in Marin County. By 2022, she had more than nine journals of sketches and notes, which her editor at Knopf suggested she publish. The book, which will be released in April 2024, has already received high praise:

“Much of great writing comes from great interest, and in The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan shows us how the world fascinates her, especially the birds. The result is both unexpected and spectacular.”
—Ann Patchett, author of These Precious Days

“What an enchanting and illuminating book! How lucky for us that Amy Tan has turned her genius, her deep empathy and insight, her keen eye for what is telling, to birds. Every page of these chronicles radiates warm curiosity, wonder, and delight.”
—Jennifer Ackerman, The Genius of Birds

“This is one of the most infectious and convincing books about nature I’ve read. For the bird-watcher, the would-be bird-watcher, or for the bird-watching skeptic, this offers great delight and unexpected intrigue. Through Tan’s ecstatic eyes, what could be a dry treatise on ornithological happenings becomes something far more fun and much more profound. It’s really a book about seeing.”
—Dave Eggers, author of Ungrateful Mammals

“Anybody even mildly interested in birds, or thinking about getting interested in birds (which are, after all, the indicator genus for the health of the planet), will want this book perched on their shelf, if only for the gift of Amy Tan’s eye and the example she gives us of how to pay attention. What a treasure.”
—Robert Hass, Pulitzer Prize-Winning author of Summer Snow: New Poems

“Backyard Bird Chronicles is fun reading. It shows how we can become engaged emotionally, literally and artistically with the natural world—to joyfully learn about the most accessible and yet wild animals, the often rare and beautiful birds that choose to come and live near and sometimes with us.”
—Bernd Heinrich, author of Mind of the Raven

“With this book as your guide, embark into the bird world Amy Tan. This is an intimate view, a sort-of love affair with the birds and their behavior, that Amy has come to know over several years. Within the leafy universe of her own backyard, she has quietly beheld, patiently observed, and taken in-depth notations of an extensive array of bird species. In colorful detail, she describes various bird’s behavior, while capturing their beauty in exquisitely rendered illustrations. Species include fearsome predators and watchful prey, long distance migrants and hometown residents. Through her unique insight and gift as an author and ...more

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Amy Tan’s books

Average rating: 3.95 · 1,089,884 ratings · 38,346 reviews · 113 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Joy Luck Club 3.97 avg rating — 706,187 ratings — published 1989 — 271 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bonesetter's Daughter really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 132,398 ratings — published 2001 — 65 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Kitchen God's Wife 4.04 avg rating — 87,563 ratings — published 1991 — 150 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Hundred Secret Senses really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 46,415 ratings — published 1995 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Valley of Amazement 3.70 avg rating — 44,812 ratings — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Saving Fish from Drowning 3.47 avg rating — 32,956 ratings — published 2005 — 99 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Backyard Bird Chronicles 4.02 avg rating — 13,886 ratings — published 2024 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life 3.94 avg rating — 8,701 ratings — published 2003 — 68 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Where the Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir 3.58 avg rating — 3,404 ratings — published 2017 — 30 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Rules for Virgins 3.44 avg rating — 3,507 ratings — published 2011 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Amy Tan's Blog

Mispronouncing words

Have you ever heard someone pronounce a word incorrectly and wondered whether to correct him or her? How about your pronouncing a word a certain way and discovering years later you had been saying it incorrectly (horrors)? How about pronouncing a word a certain way and later thinking you were saying it incorrectly because everyone used a different pronunciation, but then discovering you were right Read more of this blog post »

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Published on July 22, 2015 17:14 • Tags: grammar-police, mispronunciations, vladimir-nabokov

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Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day, according to early...

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Amy’s Recent Updates

Amy Tan liked Jacob Wren's review of The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis:
Oct 25, 2023 10:58AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Nutmeg's Curse by Amitav Ghosh. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Nutmeg's Curse by Amitav Ghosh <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Amy Tan is now following Amy Tan Author of The Joy Luck Club
Oct 23, 2023 06:37PM · 2 likes · like
Amy Tan is now following Christian Cooper Author of Represent! (2020-) #1: It's a Bird
Oct 23, 2023 06:34PM · like
Amy Tan liked that Jacob is now a friend of Ansuya
Oct 21, 2023 02:42AM
Amy Tan is accepting questions on their profile page.
Oct 21, 2023 02:14AM · Be the first to ask Amy Tan a question

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Quotes by Amy Tan (?)

“We dream to give ourselves hope. To stop dreaming - well, that’s like saying you can never change your fate.”
― Amy Tan, The Hundred Secret Senses

tags: dream, fate, hope

2584 likes

“If you can't change your fate, change your attitude.”
― Amy Tan

tags: life

2111 likes

“Writing what you wished was the most dangerous form of wishful thinking.”
― Amy Tan, The Bonesetter's Daughter

1920 likes

See all Amy Tan's quotes »

Polls

For May, our theme is mothers.
Which fiction book should we read?

Our non-fiction read will be
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less by Terry Ryan.

This poll opens at 12:01am Eastern time on Wednesday, April 19,
and will close at 11:59pm Eastern time on Wednesday, April 26.

Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson

3 votes, 42.9%

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

2 votes, 28.6%

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

1 vote, 14.3%

Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran

1 vote, 14.3%

The Mothers by Brit Bennett

0 votes, 0.0%

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

0 votes, 0.0%

7 total votes

1 comment

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Amy Tan’s Followers (11,073)

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Amy Tan

Goodreads Author

Learn moreAsk the Author

Combine EditionsAmy Tan’s books

2 postsAmy Tan's Blog

Mispronouncing words

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