Editing Amy Tan

{{short description|American novelist (born 1952)}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox writer
| name             = Amy Tan
| image            = Amy Tan 2018 (cropped).jpg
| caption          = Tan in 2018
| birth_name       = Amy Ruth Tan
| birth_date       = {{birth date and age|1952|2|19|mf=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Oakland, California]], U.S.
| death_date       = 
| death_place      = 
| education        = [[San Jose State University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Master of Arts|MA]])
| occupation       = Writer
| notableworks     = ''[[The Joy Luck Club (novel)|The Joy Luck Club]]'' (1989), ''[[The Bonesetter's Daughter]]'' (2001)
| awards           = {{Unbulleted list|[[National Humanities Medal]]}}
| signature        = Amy Tan's signature.svg
| website          = {{URL|http://www.amytan.net/}}
| module           = {{chinese|child=yes|s=谭恩美|t=譚恩美|p=Tán Ēnměi|j=Taam4 Jan1mei5}}
| spouse           = Lou DeMattei (m. 1974)
}}
'''Amy Ruth Tan''' (born February 19, 1952) is an American author best known for her novel ''[[The Joy Luck Club (novel)|The Joy Luck Club]]'' (1989), which was adapted into [[The Joy Luck Club (film)|a 1993 film]]. She is also known for other novels, short story collections, children's books, and a memoir.

Tan has earned a number of awards acknowledging her contributions to literary culture, including the [[National Humanities Medal]], the [[Carl Sandburg|Carl Sandburg Literary Award]], and the Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service. 

Tan has written several other novels, including ''[[The Kitchen God's Wife]]'' (1991), ''[[The Hundred Secret Senses]]'' (1995), ''[[The Bonesetter's Daughter]]'' (2001), ''[[Saving Fish from Drowning]]'' (2005), and ''[[The Valley of Amazement]]'' (2013). Tan has also written two [[children's books]]: ''The Moon Lady'' (1992) and ''[[The Chinese Siamese Cat]]'' (1994), which was turned into an animated series that aired on [[PBS]]. Tan's latest book is ''The Backyard Bird Chronicles'' (2024), an illustrated account of her experiences with birding and the 2016-era sociopolitical climate.

==Early life and education==
Amy was born in [[Oakland, California]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amy Tan |url=https://www.neh.gov/award/amy-tan |access-date=2024-01-16 |website=The National Endowment for the Humanities |language=en}}</ref> She is the second of three children born to [[Chinese immigrants]] John and Daisy Tan. Her father was an [[electrical engineer]] and [[Baptist]] minister who traveled to the [[United States]], in order to escape the chaos of the [[Chinese Civil War]].<ref>{{cite news | url = http://articles.nydailynews.com/2001-02-27/entertainment/18179778_1_amy-tan-daisy-tan-joy-luck-club | title = Mother As Tormented Muse Amy Tan Drew On A Dark Past For 'Daughter' | author = Sherryl Connelly | date = February 27, 2001 | website = nydailynews.com | publisher = [[New York Daily News]] | access-date = 15 December 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110314065627/http://articles.nydailynews.com/2001-02-27/entertainment/18179778_1_amy-tan-daisy-tan-joy-luck-club | archive-date = 2011-03-14}}</ref><ref name=achieve/> John Tan was pastor of First Chinese Baptist Church of Fresno, California when Amy was born.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.fcbcfresno.org/about/ |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=FCBC Fresno |language=en-US}}</ref> She recounts that her father and she would read the thesaurus together, since “he was very interested in what a word contains.”<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amy Tan |url=https://www.neh.gov/award/amy-tan |access-date=2024-01-16 |website=The National Endowment for the Humanities |language=en}}</ref> This was the beginning of her path to becoming a writer, as she wanted to use words to create stories to make herself feel understood.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amy Tan |url=https://www.neh.gov/award/amy-tan |access-date=2024-01-16 |website=The National Endowment for the Humanities |language=en}}</ref> Amy attended [[Marian A. Peterson High School]] in [[Sunnyvale, California|Sunnyvale]], for a year. When she was fifteen, her father and older brother, Peter, both died of [[brain tumor]]s within six months of each other.<ref name="Huntley1998">{{Cite book|title = Amy Tan: A Critical Companion|last = Huntley|first = E.D.|publisher = Greenwood Press|year = 1998|isbn = 0313302073|location = Westport, Conn.|pages = [https://archive.org/details/amytancriticalco00hunt/page/n22 5]–7|url = https://archive.org/details/amytancriticalco00hunt|url-access = registration}}</ref>
	
Her mother Daisy subsequently moved Amy and her younger brother, John Jr, to Switzerland, where Amy finished high school at the [[Institut Monte Rosa]], [[Montreux]].<ref>"The Archives of my Personality", address to the American Association of Museums General Session (Los Angeles), May 26, 2010</ref> During this period, Amy learned about her mother's previous marriage to another man in [[China]], of their four children (a son who died as a toddler and three daughters). She also learned how her mother left those children in [[Shanghai]]. This incident was a key part of the basis for Amy's first novel, ''[[The Joy Luck Club (novel)|The Joy Luck Club]]''.<ref name=achieve>{{cite web|title= Amy Tan Biography and Interview |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/amy-tan/#interview}}</ref> In 1987, Amy traveled with Daisy to China, where she met her three half-sisters.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/joy_luck_club.html | title = Penguin Reading Guides - The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan | access-date = August 7, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100724064451/http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/joy_luck_club.html | archive-date = July 24, 2010 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref>

Amy 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 Amy to be independent, stressing that Amy needed to make sure she was self-sufficient. Amy 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 (Amy's grandmother, who died by suicide).<ref name="NPR.org">{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/10/17/558295524/-i-am-full-of-contradictions-novelist-amy-tan-on-fate-and-family|title='I Am Full Of Contradictions': Novelist Amy Tan On Fate And Family|work=NPR.org|access-date=2018-04-23|language=en}}</ref> She attempted suicide but never succeeded.<ref name="NPR.org"/> Daisy died in 1999<ref>{{Cite news |last=Krug |first=Nora |date=2017-10-11 |title=Amy Tan talks about her new memoir, politics and why she's not always 'joy lucky' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/amy-tan-still-joy-lucky-after-all-these-years/2017/10/10/a2bbb788-a573-11e7-b14f-f41773cd5a14_story.html |access-date=2018-04-23 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> at the age of 83; she had [[Alzheimer's disease]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=2024-01-10 |title=Daisy Tan Dies at 83 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1999/11/26/daisy-tan-dies-at-83/f9e7457f-f94c-47db-88b8-d3711451ca33/ |access-date=2024-02-23 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

Amy and her mother did not speak for six months, after Amy dropped out of the Baptist college her mother had selected for her, [[Linfield College]] in Oregon, to follow her boyfriend to [[San Jose City College]] in California.<ref name=achieve/><ref name=kinsella/><ref name=tauber/> Amy met him on a [[blind date]], and she married him in 1974.<ref name=Huntley1998 /><ref name=kinsella>{{cite news |last= Kinsella |first= Bridget |date= August 9, 2013 |title= 'Fifty Shades of Tan': Amy Tan |url= http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/profiles/article/58667-fifty-shades-of-tan-amy-tan.html |newspaper= Publishers Weekly |access-date= October 11, 2014}}</ref><ref name=tauber>{{cite news |last= Tauber |first= Michelle |date= November 3, 2003 |title= A New Ending |url= http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20148516,00.html |newspaper= People Magazine |access-date= 11 October 2014}}</ref> Amy, later, received bachelor's and master's degrees in English and linguistics from [[San Jose State University|San José State University]]. She took doctoral courses in linguistics at [[University of California, Santa Cruz]] and [[University of California, Berkeley]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/tan0bio-1 |title=Amy Tan Biography |access-date=July 19, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080702234118/http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/tan0bio-1 |archive-date=July 2, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Career ==
While in school, Tan worked several odd jobs—serving as a [[switchboard operator]], [[carhop]], bartender, and pizza maker—before starting a writing career. As a freelance business writer, she worked on projects for [[AT&T]], [[IBM]], [[Bank of America]], and [[Pacific Bell]], writing under non-Chinese-sounding pseudonyms.<ref name=Huntley1998 /> These projects had turned into a 90-hours-a-week workaholism.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Feldman |first=Gayle |date=7 July 1989 |title=The Making of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club: Chinese magic, American blessings and a publishing fairy tale |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/profiles/article/58657-the-making-of-the-joy-luck-club.html |access-date=2020-11-06 |website=Publishers Weekly}}</ref>
=== The Joy Luck Club ===
Early in 1985, Tan began writing her first novel, ''[[The Joy Luck Club (novel)|The Joy Luck Club]]'', while working as a business writer. She joined a writers' workshop, the [[Community of Writers]]<ref>https://amytan.net/bio-1</ref> in Olympic Valley, CA, to refine her draft. She submitted a part of the draft novel as a story titled 'Endgame' to the workshop''.'' Before attending the program, Tan read [[Louise Erdrich]]'s [[Love Medicine]] and was "amazed by her voice... [she] could identify with the powerful images, the beautiful language, and such moving stories." Later, many critics compared Tan to Erdrich. Author [[Molly Giles]], who was teaching at the workshop, encouraged Tan to send some of her writing to magazines. Tan credits Giles with guiding her to the end of writing the book. It began with Giles' seeing a dozen stories in the 13 page draft submitted to the program. Stories by Tan, drawn from the manuscript of ''The'' ''Joy Luck Club'', were published by both FM Magazine and ''[[Seventeen (American magazine)|Seventeen]],'' although a story was rejected by [[The New Yorker|the ''New Yorker'']]''.<ref name=":1" />''

After the acceptances and a rejection, Tan joined a new San Francisco writers' group led by Giles.''<ref name=":1" />'' Giles recommended Tan to academic-turned agent Sandra Dijkstra, in 1987. In May of that year, an Italian magazine translated and published 'Endgame,' without permission. Dijkstra advised Tan to send her another story; "Waiting Between the Trees" arrived, written as an experiment to decide whether the stories collectively become a novel or a book of short stories. Dijkstra signed up Tan and asked Tan to write a synopsis for the book, along with an outline for other stories.''<ref name=":1" />'' 

Working with 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 she declined them all, as they offered compensation that she and the agent considered to be insufficient.<ref name=":1" /> Tan eventually accepted a second offer from [[G. P. Putnam's Sons]] for $50,000 in December 1987.<ref>{{Cite news|last=McDowell|first=Edwin|date=1989-04-10|title=THE MEDIA BUSINESS; First Novelists With Six-Figure Contracts (Published 1989)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/10/business/the-media-business-first-novelists-with-six-figure-contracts.html|access-date=2020-11-06|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> ''The Joy Luck Club'' consists of eight related stories about the experiences of four [[Chinese American|Chinese–American]] mother–daughter pairs.<ref>{{cite book |title=Contemporary Literary Criticism |date=August 2008 |publisher=Cengage Gale |isbn=978-1-4144-1893-3 |editor1-last=Hunter |editor1-first=Jeffrey W. |volume=257 |chapter=Amy Tan}}{{page needed|date=June 2021}}</ref> Tan dedicated the book to her mother, with the following words: "You asked me, once, what I would remember. This, and much more."<ref name=":4" />

Being a realist, Tan had predicted to her husband that the novel would disappear from the bookstore shelves, after six weeks. She thought that most first novels meet that fate, within that time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tan |first=Amy |date=2019-04-23 |title=Amy Tan Reflects on 30 Years Since The Joy Luck Club |url=https://lithub.com/amy-tan-reflects-on-30-years-since-the-joy-luck-club/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Literary Hub |language=en-US}}</ref> Putnam Books auctioned the reprint rights in April 1989,<ref>{{Cite news |last=McDowell |first=Edwin |date=1989-04-10 |title=The Media Business: First Novelists With Six-Figure Contracts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/10/business/the-media-business-first-novelists-with-six-figure-contracts.html |access-date=2024-02-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> which were bought by [[Vintage Books]], the trade paperback division of [[Random House]]. Vintage's successful bid was at US$ 1.2 million. However, Random House decided to alter plans, and [[Ivy Books]] was assigned to print the paperback version, first, in the mass-market version, followed by Vintage, for a smaller audience, as a more expensively produced version.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1989-07-13 |title=Paperback-publishing switch surprises industry |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |pages=12}}</ref> When the paperback version came out, its hardcover had already undergone 27 printings, with sales of over 200,000 copies.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Peter |date=1990-07-14 |title=On common ground: The Joy Luck Club delves into the intensity and distance of the mother-daughter bond |work=The Vancouver Sun |pages=17}}</ref> By 1991, the book had already been translated into 17 languages.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Fong-Torres |first=Ben |date=1991-06-12 |title=Can Amy Tan Do It Again? / Publisher, public hoping for a second blockbuster |work=San Francisco Chronicle |pages=B3}}</ref>

=== The Kitchen God's Wife ===
Tan's second novel, ''[[The Kitchen God's Wife]]'', also focuses on the relationship between an immigrant Chinese mother and her American-born daughter.<ref name="Huntley1998" /> On its writing inspiration, Tan explained, "My mother said, when I started ''The'' ''Kitchen'' ''God''<nowiki/>'s ''Wife'', that she liked ''The Joy Luck Club'' very much, it's very fictional, but next time, tell my story." Tan added that there are many fictionalized parts in the story narration, too.<ref name=":2" /> Tan, later, referred to this book as the "much more" that she remembered, as mentioned in the dedication page of her first book.<ref name=":4" /> This novel is significant, as it narrates a historical period of China between the 1930s and 1940s, including [[Nanjing Massacre]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Adams |first=Bella |date=2003 |title=Representing History in Amy Tan's "The Kitchen God's Wife" |url=https://academic.oup.com/melus/article-lookup/doi/10.2307/3595280 |journal=MELUS |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=9–30 |doi=10.2307/3595280|jstor=3595280 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[G. P. Putnam's Sons]] released the book in June 1991 and priced the hardcover at US$ 21.95.<ref name=":3" />

=== Other books ===
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.<ref name="rudetsky21“">"Amy Tan" (interview) ''Seth Speaks Broadway!'' SiriusXM On Broadway, 16 May 2021.</ref> 

Tan's fourth novel, ''[[The Bonesetter's Daughter]]'', returns to the theme of an immigrant Chinese woman and her American-born daughter.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Hoyte |first1=Kirsten Dinnal |title=Contradiction and Culture: Revisiting Amy Tan's 'Two Kinds' (Again) |magazine=Minnesota Review |issue=61/62 |date=March 2004 |page=161 }}</ref>

In 2024, Tan published ''The Backyard Bird Chronicles'', her illustrated account of birding as a coping mechanism during the divisive 2016 US Presidential election.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Tan|first=Amy|date=April 23, 2024|title=''The Backyard Bird Chronicles''|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717452/the-backyard-bird-chronicles-by-amy-tan/|publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf|Knopf]]}}</ref>

===Where the Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir===
4th Estate published Tan's memoir, in October 2017. The book cover was released earlier in April.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Biedenharn |first=Isabella |date=2017-04-25 |title=Amy Tan Pokes Fun at Her New Book Cover |url=https://ew.com/books/2017/04/25/amy-tan-where-past-begins-cover/ |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=EW.com |language=en}}</ref> In the book, using family photographs and journal entries, she writes about the relationship with her mother, the death of her father and brother, stories of her half-sisters and grandmother in China, her diagnosis of [[chronic Lyme disease]], and life as a writer.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roy |first=Nilanjana |date=2018-01-19 |title=Where the Past Begins by Amy Tan — dark materials |url=https://www.ft.com/content/7467e8da-fad6-11e7-9b32-d7d59aace167 |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=www.ft.com}}</ref> In comparison to her fiction writing, Tan said a memoir is "unvarnished.”  While writing a memoir, her recollection and sequence of events might not be orderly for the reader. They emerge according to their importance and how they shaped her.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jan/22/amy-tan-writing-exhilarating-wish-hadnt-been-published-memoir-joy-luck-club|title=Where the Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir|newspaper=The Guardian |date=2017-10-17|language=en|last1=O'Kelly |first1=Lisa }}</ref><ref name="whelan">{{cite news |last1=Whelan |first1=David |title=Lyme Inc. |url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2007/0312/096.html |work=Forbes |date=23 Feb 2007 |language=en}}</ref>

==Other media==
Tan was the "lead rhythm dominatrix,” backup singer and second tambourine with the [[Rock Bottom Remainders]] 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]]'', "[[Insane Clown Poppy]]."<ref>{{cite news |title=Amy Tan, Novelist |url=https://www.ted.com/speakers/amy_tan |website=TED.com |last1=Tan |first1=Amy }}</ref>

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]] adapted the book into a [[The Joy Luck Club (film)|film]]. ''The Bonesetter's Daughter'' was adapted into an [[The Bonesetter's Daughter (opera)|opera]], in 2008.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kosman |first=Joshua |date=September 15, 2008 |title=Opera review: 'Bonesetter's Daughter' |url=http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Opera-review-Bonesetter-s-Daughter-3195073.php |access-date=January 31, 2017 |website=SF Gate}}</ref> Tan's children's book, ''[[Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat (book)|Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat]],'' was adapted into an [[PBS]] animated television show, also named ''[[Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sagwa: About the show |url=http://pbskids.sproutonline.me/sagwa/caregivers/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017062246/http://pbskids.sproutonline.me/sagwa/caregivers/index.html |archive-date=October 17, 2014 |publisher=PBS Kids |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In May 2021, the documentary ''Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir'' was released in the [[American Masters]] series on [[PBS]]. (It was later released on [[Netflix]].)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/stream-amy-tan-unintended-memoir-documentary/17722/|title=American Masters: Amy Tan|access-date=May 23, 2021}}</ref>

==Critical reception==
{{expand section|date=December 2023}}
Tan's writing has been praised for its bravery in exploring both the personal struggles and triumphs of immigrant families.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2024-01-04 |title=Amy Tan {{!}} The National Endowment for the Humanities |url=https://www.neh.gov/award/amy-tan |access-date=2024-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104020132/https://www.neh.gov/award/amy-tan |archive-date=January 4, 2024 }}</ref> Her first book, ''The Joy Luck Club'', which is considered a prominent contribution to the Modern Period of American literature, was called "a jewel of a book" by the New York Times, noting Tan's "deep empathy for her subject matter" and the "rare fidelity and beauty" of her storytelling.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schell |first=Orville |date=2021-10-21 |title=Review: 'The Joy Luck Club,' by Amy Tan |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/21/books/the-joy-luck-club-amy-tan.html |access-date=2024-01-04 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> ''The Joy Luck Club'' went on to be a bestseller, and was a finalist for both the [[National Book Award]] and the [[National Book Critics Circle Award]]. That book, and her subsequent novels, have spent forty weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers list.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-04 |title=Where to Start with Amy Tan {{!}} The New York Public Library |url=https://www.nypl.org/blog/2017/02/19/where-start-amy-tan |access-date=2024-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104021451/https://www.nypl.org/blog/2017/02/19/where-start-amy-tan |archive-date=January 4, 2024 }}</ref>

In 2021, Tan was presented the [[National Humanities Medal]] for her contribution to expanding the American literary canon, and in the same year won the [[Carl Sandburg|Carl Sandburg Literary Award]].<ref name=":0" /> Tan also received the Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service for her contribution to world community.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-04 |title=Powell, Mamet, Berners-Lee, Tan and Thorne Win 2005 Common Wealth Awards |url=https://pnc.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=3473&item=74039 |access-date=2024-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104022648/https://pnc.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=3473&item=74039 |archive-date=January 4, 2024 }}</ref>

Tan has received criticism, notably from Sau-ling Cynthia Wong, a professor at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], who  wrote that Tan's novels "are often products of the American-born writer's own heavily mediated understanding of things Chinese,” and author [[Frank Chin]], who has said that her novels "demonstrate a vested interest in casting Chinese men in the worst possible light".<ref name="cynthia">Wong, Sau-ling Cynthia (1995). "Sugar Sisterhood: Situating the Amy Tan Phenomenon". p. 55.</ref><ref name="xiaohuang">Yin, Xiao-huang (2000). "Chinese American Literature Since the 1850s''. p. 235.''</ref> Tan, in response, however, has dismissed these criticisms, stating that her works arise from her personal family experiences as a Chinese-American and are not intended as a representation of the general Chinese/Asian American experience.<ref name="lily">Lee, Lily (2003). "Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: The Twentieth Century, 1912-2000". p. 503.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gioia |first=Dana |date=2007-05-01 |title=A Conversation With Amy Tan |url=https://www.the-american-interest.com/2007/05/01/a-conversation-with-amy-tan/ |access-date=2024-01-04 |website=The American Interest |language=en-US}}</ref>

== 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.<ref name="Jaggi">{{Cite web|last=Jaggi|first=Maya|date=2001-03-03|title=Interview with Amy Tan|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/03/fiction.features|access-date=2018-04-23|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref>

Tan believes she developed chronic [[Lyme disease]], a condition unrecognized by medical science, in 1998. She attributes health complications like [[epileptic seizure]]s to chronic Lyme disease. Tan co-founded LymeAid 4 Kids, which helps uninsured children pay for treatment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Stone|first=Steven|date=August 2015|title=Summertime Blues: To DEET or not to DEET...|page=60|newspaper=[[Vintage Guitar (magazine)|Vintage Guitar]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Amy Tan|date=August 11, 2013|title=My Plight with the Illness|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/08/11/deconstructing-lyme-disease/my-plight-with-lyme-disease|access-date=2014-04-12}}</ref><ref name="whelan"/>

Tan also developed depression, for which she was prescribed 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]].<ref name="Jaggi" />

In February 2025, the [[Bancroft Library]] of [[University of California, Berkeley]], announced that it had acquired an archive of Tan's work through a combination of donations and purchases using [[Financial endowment|endowment]] funds. Having previously claimed that she would have her possessions shredded upon death to avoid posthumous scrutiny, Tan explained her change-of-heart as accepting posterity.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schuessler |first=Jennifer |date=2025-02-12 |title=Why Amy Tan Decided Not to Shred Her Archive |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/arts/amy-tan-archive-berkeley.html |access-date=2025-02-19 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Tan lives near [[San Francisco]] in [[Sausalito]], California,<ref>{{Cite web |last=columnist |first=Beth Ashley {{!}} IJ |date=February 25, 2008 |title=Beth Ashley: Author Amy Tan finds her own truth in Sausalito |url=https://www.marinij.com/general-news/20080225/beth-ashley-author-amy-tan-finds-her-own-truth-in-sausalito/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528002906/https://www.marinij.com/2008/02/25/beth-ashley-author-amy-tan-finds-her-own-truth-in-sausalito/ |archive-date=May 28, 2023 |access-date=August 11, 2024 |website=Marin Independent Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|last=Tan|first=Amy|date=July 30, 2014|title=Amy Tan on Joy and Luck at Home: The novelist builds a home she can grow old in|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/amy-tans-joy-and-luck-1406742990|access-date=October 11, 2014}}</ref> In recent years, she has developed interests in [[birding]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-06-14 |title=Christian Cooper and Amy Tan on How Birding Brings Them Joy |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/science/christian-cooper-amy-tan-birding-event.html |access-date=2023-07-10 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and nature journaling.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.heydaybooks.com/catalog/how-to-teach-nature-journaling-curiosity-wonder-attention/ |title=How to Teach Nature Journaling: Curiosity, Wonder, Attention by Emilie Lygren, John Muir Laws |isbn=978-1-59714-490-2 |language=en-US |last1=Laws |first1=John Muir |last2=Lygren |first2=Emilie |year=2020 |publisher=Heyday }}</ref>

==Bibliography==
===Short stories===
*"Mother Tongue" (1990)
*"[[Fish Cheeks]]" (1987)
* "The Voice from the Wall"
* "Rules of the Game"
* "Two Kinds"

=== Novels===
* ''[[The Joy Luck Club (novel)|The Joy Luck Club]]'' (1989)
* ''[[The Kitchen God's Wife]]'' (1991)
* ''[[The Hundred Secret Senses]]'' (1995)
* ''[[The Bonesetter's Daughter]]'' (2001)
* ''[[Saving Fish from Drowning]]'' (2005)
* ''[[The Valley of Amazement]]'' (2013)

===Children's books===
* ''The Moon Lady'', illustrated by Gretchen Schields (1992) 
* ''[[The Chinese Siamese Cat]]'', illustrated by Gretchen Schields (1994)

===Nonfiction===
* ''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]], [[Mary Higgins Clark]]) (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, {{ISBN|9780399150746}})
* ''Hard Listening: The Greatest Rock Band Ever, (of Authors) Tells All'' (with [[Mitch Albom]], Dave Barry, [[Sam Barry (author)|Sam Barry]], [[Roy Blount Jr.]], [[Matt Groening]], Ted Habte-Gabr, [[Greg Iles]], Stephen King, [[James McBride (writer)|James McBride]], [[Roger McGuinn]], [[Ridley Pearson]], [[Scott Turow]]), an interactive ebook about her participation in a writer/musician band, the [[Rock Bottom Remainders]] (Coliloquy, 2013)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rockbottomremainders.com/pages/hard-listening.html|title=Hard Listening - Coming June 18th 2013|website=www.rockbottomremainders.com}}</ref>
* ''Where the Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir'' (HarperCollins, 2017, {{ISBN|9780062319296}})
* ''The Backyard Bird Chronicles'', written and illustrated by Tan (Knopf, 2024, {{ISBN|9780593536131}})

==Awards==
* 1989, Finalist [[National Book Award]] for ''The Joy Luck Club''<ref>{{cite web|title=National Book Awards|url=http://nbafictionfinalists.squarespace.com/blog/2012/6/10/1989-3.html|access-date=11 October 2014|archive-date=October 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012214708/http://nbafictionfinalists.squarespace.com/blog/2012/6/10/1989-3.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 1989, Finalist [[National Book Critics Circle Award]] for ''The Joy Luck Club''<ref>{{cite web|title=All Past National Book Critics Circle Award Winners and Finalists|url=http://bookcritics.org/awards/past_awards/|publisher=National Book Critics Circle|access-date=11 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427180857/http://bookcritics.org/awards/past_awards/|archive-date=April 27, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Finalist ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' Fiction Prize
* Bay Area Book Reviewers Award
* Commonwealth Gold Award
* [[American Library Association]]'s Notable Books
* American Library Association's Best Book for Young Adults
* 2005–2006, [[Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature]] Honorable Mention for ''Saving Fish From Drowning''<ref>{{Cite web|url =http://www.apalaweb.org/awards/literature-awards/winners/2005-2006-awards/|title =APALA: 2005-2006 Awards|url-status =dead|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20141016121940/http://www.apalaweb.org/awards/literature-awards/winners/2005-2006-awards/|archive-date =October 16, 2014|df =mdy-all}}</ref>
* ''The Joy Luck Club'' selected for the [[National Endowment for the Arts]]' Big Read<ref>{{cite web|title=The Big Read: The Joy Luck Club|date=August 13, 2021|url=http://www.neabigread.org/books/joyluckclub/}}</ref>
* ''[[The New York Times]]'' Notable Book
* ''[[Booklist]]'' Editors Choice
* Finalist for the [[Orange Prize]]
* Nominated for the Orange Prize
* Nominated for the [[International Dublin Literary Award]]
* [[Audie Award]]: Best Non-fiction, Abridged
* [[Parents' Choice Award]], Best Television Program for Children
* Shortlisted [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] award, best screenplay adaptation
* Shortlisted [[WGA Award]], best screenplay adaptation
* 1996, Golden Plate Award of the [[American Academy of Achievement]]<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url= https://www.achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Chinese American literature]]
{{portal bar|Novels|Children's literature}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

;General
* [https://www.operaamerica.org/applications/NAWD/newworks/details.aspx?id=749 The Bonesetters Daughter-The Opera] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918210712/https://operaamerica.org/Applications/NAWD/newworks/details.aspx?id=749 |date=September 18, 2020 }}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Amy Tan}}
* {{official website}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120401231301/http://www.oxonianreview.org/wp/reading-in-reverse/ 'Reading in Reverse']}}, review of ''The Opposite of Fate'' in the ''[[Oxonian Review]]''
* *[http://writetv.okstate.edu Teresa Miller television interview with Amy Tan (60 minutes)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20141007050705/http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/tan0int-1 Interview with Amy Tan] from the [[Academy of Achievement]] 
* {{LCAuth|n88021941|Amy Tan|34|}}
* [https://www.npr.org/2017/10/17/558295524/-i-am-full-of-contradictions-novelist-amy-tan-on-fate-and-family 'I Am Full Of Contradictions': Novelist Amy Tan On Fate And Family], interview on ''[[Fresh Air]]'' (37 minutes)
*{{TED speakers}}
{{Amy Tan}}
{{Authority control}}

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