Product Description
The Hundred Secret Senses is an exultant novel about China and America, love and loyalty, the identities we invent and the true selves we discover along the way. Olivia Laguni is half-Chinese, but typically American in her uneasiness with her patchwork family. And no one in Olivia's family is more embarrassing to her than her half-sister, Kwan Li. For Kwan speaks mangled English, is cheerfully deaf to Olivia's sarcasm, and sees the dead with her "yin eyes."

Even as Olivia details the particulars of her decades-long grudge against her sister (who, among other things, is a source of infuriatingly good advice), Kwan Li is telling her own story, one that sweeps us into the splendor, squalor, and violence of Manchu China. And out of the friction between her narrators, Amy Tan creates a work that illuminates both the present and the past sweetly, sadly, hilariously, with searing and vivid prose.

"Truly magical...unforgettable...this novel...shimmer[s] with meaning."--San Diego Tribune

"The Hundred Secret Senses doesn't simply return to a world but burrows more deeply into it, following new trails to fresh revelations."--Newsweek ... Read more

Customer Reviews (215)

The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan
Sorry - although I normally really like Amy Tan's books, this one left me cold.I could not get into it.Tried twice.Maybe you'll have better luck.

good for Amy Tan's fans. not so much if you haven't read any of her work yet.
I could say openly that Amy Tan is one of my favorite authors. The Joy Luck Club is one of my favorite books. While The Hundred Secret Senses did not make it to my favorites list, it definitely made me want to read the rest of Amy Tan's creations.

This book is about Olivia, half Chinese and half American, who grew up in San Francisco, California. When she was younger, she met her half-sister, Kwan, who came straight from China. Kwan introduces her Chinese heritage, memories, and history through her own eyes. Olivia explains in the book, "My sister Kwan believes she has Yin eyes. She sees those who have died and now dwell in the World of Yin..." Olivia, a photographer, is now in her mid-30s is on the verge of getting a divorce with her husband Simon, a writer. In the most unexpected situations, the three of them are flown back to China where they learn so much more than they anticipated.

Olivia's character was not as interesting to me as I would have liked although I found Kwan to be one of the most memorable. The story, ending, and the twists themselves were interesting enough, especially with the supernatural twist. Kwan's character was also enough to hold the whole thing together. And although the ending was less than satisfactory, this novel clearly showed Amy Tan's skill and artistry with her craft. I could read her prose and her narratives all day. That being said, if you are a fan of the author, check this out. If not, and this is your first Tan book, read The Joy Luck Club first. That book won't be your last of hers.

Not the best Amy Tan book.
I really like the writing style of Amy Tan and even though this book was frustrating at some points, she engages the reader like no other writer can.

PROS: Her dialog is funny and real, and her descriptions of China are rich.

CONS: I didn't like some of the animal cruelty (and human cruelty), and I want to know if Kwan was real!

The ending left me with more questions than answers, but it was an interesting ride there.

Decent Amy Tan book
Whether or not you're already an Am Tan fan, this book is a fairly interesting and fun read. I will say that I did not enjoy this book as much as I did 'Joy Luck Club' or 'Kitchen God's Wife', but this book still stands out nicely on its own with all the themes of reincarnation. It's just that I find the story a bit cheesy, but I don't find any issues with Ms. Tan's writing style itself. Overall an rather enjoyable read.

absolutely amazing.
You don't have to be Chinese, or half chinese for that matter.
At first I had doubts about this book, Kwan the Chinese sister, seemed to crazy for me. But I soon learned that that's what makes this book even more stunningly beautiful. Libby's views on life, love, family, and everything in between made me dogear a lot of the pages on this book. This book made me chuckle, think, and learn.Page turner, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! ... Read more

Product Description
Focusing on the life of one woman, this book spans the years from pre-Revolutionary China to present day America. It covers the themes of cultural differences, the problems of exile, the generation gap and above all the special relationship between mothers and daughters. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (176)

Tan - betrayed by her own shallow roots
I loved "The Joy Luck Club" the movie but never read the book by the famous Amy Tan. So I thought, why not check her out, starting with her sophmore effort, "The Kitchen God's Wife" ? After all, she's sold tons of books and is immensely popular with the reading public. Her books have even made it to reading lists for literature in American colleges.

Sadly, I was disappointed, for a number of reasons. To begin with, the storyline is rather dull - though it picks up towards the end, the lengthy middle portion about the war years in Chongqing and Kunming goes absolutely nowhere.It is also predictably familiar - a repeat of the same old "I Will Survive" mantra by the victimized Chinese sisterhood- her stereotyping of Chinese males as weak minded, pathetic brutes who mistreat their women only because they can, is both tiresome and culturally offensive. Not to mention that the white Christian man is invariably the knight in shining armor, who comes to rescue the brave tormented woman from her fate and ride with her into the sunset.

Worse, Tan betrays her own shallow roots and shockingly limited knowledge of her ancestral culture in the mistakes she makes in little details that may escape the eye of Western readers but not that of their Asian counterparts. For instance, she doesn't seem to tell the difference between Taoism and Buddhism - often she says the latter when clearly she means the former. There's worse to come - the term of endearment ("tang jie") Winnie uses for her cousin Peanut she translates into English as "sugar sister" when the term in fact means "first cousin - specifically, one's father's brother's daughter".Yes, unlike the Western "one size fits all" term of uncle and aunt for one's parents' siblings and their spouses, the Chinese have specific forms of address for each type of uncle/aunt relationship, depending on how one is related. Confusing, yes, but Chinese all the same and I very much suspect that Tan can't distinguish between them or tell one from the other.

She also makes the big mistake of dismissing Confucianism in one broad sweep and attributing the ills of Chinese feudal society to this ancient philosopher. If it's the backward and evil creed she says it is, why are there so many so named Confucius Institutes sprouting out from all corners of the world today catering to the language and cultural needs of foreign students ?

Amy Tan may have made her mark as a fiction writer in the late 80s/early 90s writing about the sorrows of Chinese women in feudal times for Western readers, who understandably lapped it all for it conformed with their own vague notions and prejudices about Chinese culture. Today, in the context of China regaining her place on the world stage and the revival of interest in this ancient civilization, Tan's novels (like this one) should be read (if at all) with a wry sense of irony. An ambassador for her own motherland she is not.

The Joy Luck Club prequel
Amy Tan's second book is as good as her first one, The Joy Luck Club.This similar story - about a young Chinese woman trying to come to terms with her difficult mother - is set mostly in the past, while Joy Luck dealt with more present-day issues.Definitely worth reading, it will stay with you.

China History About Mother Daughter Relationships
After reading Amy Tan's, THE BONESETTER'S DAUGHTER, I was inspired to read her second novel, THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE because Tan does an excellent job inviting readers into the lives of first generation Chinese American women.Tan's novels goes further by offering us a glimpse of cultural conflicts that many first generation Chinese American women experience, and a deeper understanding about their complex relationships with their mothers.

In this fascinating story we learn 'in flashbacks' the story of Pearl's mother, Winnie and her life as a young girl growing up in the turn of the century China.This is also a wonderful story about Chinese culture and the traditional role of women who must learn to accept their fate and low status in family life.Also, we learn about secrets that Winnie has kept from her daughter, and why she was ashamed to tell her daughter her deepest secrets.Through Winnies' story, we learn about how she coped with physical abuse, and how she struggled to survive during the pre-war days in China.We also learn about Winnie's experiences, which led her to Shanghai during WWII when she becomes separated from her husband.

THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE is an engaging story with various subplots that will keep you enthralled.If you enjoy Amy Tan's novels, you will not be disappointed.


Maizie Lucille James
July 12, 2010

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan
I normally appreciate Amy Tan's books so it wasn't a surprise that I enjoyed this one.I think what I usually like best is the relationships she builds between women, but this time it was set duing China's struggle during World War II.Very interesting to see how America helped deliver China from the tyranny of the Japanese.We don't often hear about that part of the war.I would highly recommend this book to all Amy Tan readers and those interested in getting to know her.Her relationships between women are intricate and challenging and very real.

You may not get the cover that is pictured here
I ordered this book based on 2 things: My love of Amy Tan's books and the fact that the cover pictured is the one that I had. Somehow I lost my copy of this a couple years ago and I wanted the same one. I can tell that the blue letters in the title are raised just like my old copy. But I feel very disappointed that the seller sent me a larger paperback with a cover I have never seen before, nothing like the one pictured. I'm not going to send it back as I love the contents of the book and returns to Amazon are a pain and cost me more money, but I will avoid items from this seller in the future as I want what I ordered to be what is pictured and listed. ... Read more

Product Description
Amy Tan has touched millions of readers with haunting and sympathetic novels of cultural complexity and profound empathy. With the same spirit and humor that characterize her acclaimed novels, she now shares her insight into her own life and how she escaped the curses of her past to make a future of her own. She takes us on a journey from her childhood of tragedy and comedy to the present day and her arrival as one of the world’s best-loved novelists. Whether recalling arguments with her mother in suburban California or introducing us to the ghosts that inhabit her computer, The Opposite of Fate offers vivid portraits of choices, attitudes, charms, and luck in action—a refreshing antidote to the world-weariness and uncertainties we all face today.Amazon.com Review
Amy Tan begins The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings, a collection of essays that spans her literary career, on a humorous note; she is troubled that her life and novels have become the subject of a "Cliff’s Notes" abridgement. Reading the little yellow booklet, she discovers that her work is seen as complex and rich with symbolism. However, Tan assures her readers that she has no lofty, literary intentions in writing her novels--she writes for herself, and insists that the recurring patterns and themes that critics find in them are entirely their own making. This self-deprecating stance, coupled with Tan’s own clarification of her intentions, makes The Opposite of Fate feel like an extended, private conversation with the author.

Tan manages to find grace and frequent comedy in her sometimes painful life, and she takes great pleasure in being a celebrity. "Midlife Confidential" brings readers on tour with Tan and the rest of the leather-clad writers’ rock band, the Rock-Bottom Remainders. And "Angst and the Second Book" is a brutally honest, frequently hysterical reflection on Tan’s self-conscious attempts to follow the success of The Joy Luck Club.

In a collection so diverse and spanning such a long period of time, inevitably some of the pieces feel dated or repetitious. Yet, Tan comes off as a remarkably humble and sane woman, and the book works well both to fill in her biography and to clarify the boundaries between her life and her fiction. In her final, title essay, Tan juxtaposes her personal struggles against a persistent disease with the nation’s struggles against terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11. She declares her transformative, artistic power over tragedy, reflecting: "As a storyteller, I know that if I don’t like the ending, I can write a better one." --Patrick O’Kelley ... Read more

Customer Reviews (56)

Absolutely beautiful!
Wonderful insight into the mind of an excellent writer. Read her gorgeous novels first, then read this!

Great content, pathetic CD packaging
This rating is combined for content and CD packaging. I would give 5 stars for content and 0 stars for packaging. I just returned from a long road trip, so my experience with these CDs is still very fresh.

First the content: Excellent, absolutely. The work is read by Amy Tan, and her voice, inflection, and overall tone are engaging and inviting. Not all authors read well, but Tan certainly does. If you're interested in the woman behind the fiction, this non-fiction set of essays will most likely interest you. She's focused on relationships much of the time, which I found interesting. She's got good observation skills and appears objective, so she leaves conclusions to the reader. When she does state an opinion, she makes it evident that it is her own.

She speaks about deciding to make Joy Luck Club into a movie and the entire process.

Her mother and their relationship interweave through many of the essays. She writes about her college years and how she became a writer. She writes about how she perceives the world. She writes about a well-loved college roommate who dies, and how he directly influences her life direction after his death.

She writes about experiencing the psychic throughout her life.

She writes about her trip to China with her mother and her mother's last years with dementia.

Tan writes about her experiences as a very famous author and how her fiction is experienced and interpreted by academia, and most frustratingly, the multitude of expectations when all she wants to do is write from the heart. She is frustrated with others' desire to label her and her writing.

Finally, she writes about her experience with a disease that had been misdiagnosed for years, which turned her life upside down and will affect her, most likely, for the rest of her life.

Amy Tan writes these essays the same way she writes her fiction: permeated with humor, direct observation and generosity of spirit.

Again, I give the content 5 stars, but the packaging makes listening to these CDs a nightmare.

Originally, on a prior roadtrip, I had borrowed the CDs from the library. This packaging was typical, with separate cloth sleeves for each CD with the cloth sleeves attached to the sturdy plastic frame that flipped open and shut. When driving, this still isn't the easiest way to handle the CDs, but it works.

However, this set I bought came in a flimsy paper box that collapsed with any handling, which then spewed out 8 individual CDs all over the floorboard of my car. The CDs are in separate paper sleeves with a flap over each. It's difficult to flip the flap and pull out the CD with one hand while driving and return the other CD to its sleeve. Then when switching to the next CD, pulling it out of the flimsy box is basically impossible without spilling all the CDs onto the seat next to you or in your lap or floor of your car. This packaging is clearly the least expensive the publisher could find and absolutely no thought was put into how the user is going to manipulate the CDs while driving.

I gave a low rating, so my review would be flagged and read. The more people complain about this kind of packaging, the better chance it will stop.

A great book
An excellent book!I enjoy several of Amy Tan's books and this one shed a lot of light on my favorite (The Kitchen God's Wife).It was interesting to read her views about publishing, the problem with trying to get people to just write for their ethnicity and the issues surrounding ethnicity in the publishing world in general.She gives the reader a real and tangible, exciting and stimulating view of the world that she grew up in and pulls you in with the use of essays, letters, and musings.

Unforgettable and Deeply Personal
I am reviewing this book after reading it for the second time, so it should already be obvious that I enjoyed it. Amy Tan, one of my favorite American writers, finally gives her fans an inside look at what inspires and drives her story-telling. All writers are influenced by their own experiences, but none have a wealth of tragedies and settings in their lives to pull from. Tan has lived through the deaths of her older brother and her father, within a year of each other, and many years later, of her mother. She has lost friends to tragic accidents, illness, and even murder. She has lived in San Francisco, New York (which is where she was on September 11, 2001), and Montreux, Switzerland. She performs in a rock and roll band with Stephen King, Dave Berry, and Barbara Kingslover. She suffers from Lyme disease, which has caused her to experience hallucinations, overwhelming fatigue, and body vibrations. In short, she has not lived a normal life. It has been filled with mysticism and unexplainable coincidences.

Perhaps most valuable to her fans who are also writers, are her thoughts on writing. She describes her experience making the movie of The Joy Luck Club, she talks about reviewers, the students who interpret her writing for term papers, and how she wrote the dreaded Second Book. For fans of Amy Tan, this book is a definite must-read. For those who are interested in reading about the writing process, about a woman's real relationship with her mother, or just about an interesting life, this book should be perfect.

The Best In Chinese Take-Out
I didn't read The Joy Luck Club; I wasn't interested, it sounded like a chick book, and I don't play Mah Jong.This book is more like taking a peek inside Amy Tan.It was great.

I hated literature in high school and college, because all the professors always talked about all the "hidden meaning" and symbolism in persons, objects and events happening in the book. I thought this was a bunch of BS. So thank you Amy for proving me right!

It is a well written compilation of stories, observations and even commencement addresses.My favorite was her thoughts on waiting to be introduced for a talk and seeing the Cliff Notes of her book on display.Nice touch. I would probably appreciate Joy Luck Club after reading this book. ... Read more

Product Description
A provocative new novel from the bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter's Daughter.

On an ill-fated art expedition into the southern Shan state of Burma, eleven Americans leave their Floating Island Resort for a Christmas-morning tour-and disappear. Through twists of fate, curses, and just plain human error, they find themselves deep in the jungle, where they encounter a tribe awaiting the return of the leader and the mythical book of wisdom that will protect them from the ravages and destruction of the Myanmar military regime.

Saving Fish from Drowning seduces the reader with a fagade of Buddhist illusions, magician's tricks, and light comedy, even as the absurd and picaresque spiral into a gripping morality tale about the consequences of intentions-both good and bad-and about the shared responsibility that individuals must accept for the actions of others.

A pious man explained to his followers: "It is evil to take lives and noble to save them. Each day I pledge to save a hundred lives. I drop my net in the lake and scoop out a hundred fishes. I place the fishes on the bank, where they flop and twirl. 'Don't be scared,' I tell those fishes. 'I am saving you from drowning.' Soon enough, the fishes grow calm and lie still. Yet, sad to say, I am always too late. The fishes expire. And because it is evil to waste anything, I take those dead fishes to market and I sell them for a good price. With the money I receive, I buy more nets so I can save more fishes."Amazon.com Review
Amy Tan, who has an unerring eye for relationships between mothers and daughters, especially Chinese-American, has departed from her well-known genre in Saving Fish From Drowning.She would be well advised to revisit that theme which she writes about so well.

The title of the book is derived from the practice of Myanmar fishermen who "scoop up the fish and bring them to shore.They say they are saving the fish from drowning.Unfortunately... the fish do not recover,"This kind of magical thinking or hypocrisy or mystical attitude or sheer stupidity is a fair metaphor for the entire book.It may be read as a satire, a political statement, a picaresque tale with several "picaros" or simply a story about a tour gone wrong.

Bibi Chen, San Francisco socialite and art vendor to the stars, plans to lead a trip for 12 friends: "My friends, those lovers of art, most of them rich, intelligent, and spoiled, would spend a week in China and arrive in Burma on Christmas Day."Unfortunately, Bibi dies, in very strange circumstances, before the tour begins.After wrangling about it, the group decides to go after all.The leader they choose is indecisive and epileptic, a dangerous combo.Bibi goes along as the disembodied voice-over.

Once in Myanmar, finally, they are noticed by a group of Karen tribesmen who decide that Rupert, the 15-year-old son of a bamboo grower is, in fact, Younger White Brother, or The Lord of the Nats.He can do card tricks and is carrying a Stephen King paperback.These are adjudged to be signs of his deity and ability to save them from marauding soldiers. The group is "kidnapped," although they think they are setting out for a Christmas Day surprise, and taken deep into the jungle where they languish, develop malaria, learn to eat slimy things and wait to be rescued. Nats are "believed to be the spirits of nature--the lake, the trees, the mountains, the snakes and birds.They were numberless ... They were everywhere, as were bad luck and the need to find reasons for it."Philosophy or cynicism?This elusive point of view is found throughout the novel--a bald statement is made and then Tan pulls her punches as if she is unwilling to make a statement that might set a more serious tone.

There are some goofy parts about Harry, the member of the group who is left behind, and his encounter with two newswomen from Global News Network, some slapstick sex scenes and a great deal of dog-loving dialogue. These all contribute to a novel that is silly but not really funny, could have an occasionally serious theme which suddenly disappears, and is about a group of stereotypical characters that it's hard to care about.It was time for Amy Tan to write another book; too bad this was it.--Valerie Ryan ... Read more

Customer Reviews (240)

I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO LISTEN TO IT YET!!!!!!
It arrived in a timely manner, but as yet Ihaven't had time to listen to it

DISAPPOINTING !!! Don't bother with this book.
I agree with all the rest of the 3 and lower ratings group ... When I read the pocket and the first few pages I was captivated ! This sounded like it would be a wonderful read .... but I was soon disappointed. The book gets 2 stars for at least having a good first half. In that section there is mystery ... why was she murdered, where are the 11 missing pple ... and as you read you are dying to see and read about what really happened to them! But all to soon that part comes and the disappointment is overwhelming ! The second half of the book is filled with excessive words and stories that hold no baring, there are to many missed moments .... Like when Harry happens to miss seeing that it is the missing 11 on the tape he was given b/c she was turning down the volume. You read and read hoping for the pain (of finishing the book) to end. I only completed the book out of an obligation to myself to see it to the end. But this was a 100% disappointing novel. AMY TAN COULD DO BETTER !!!! and she does not in this book. It is a pass .... for those how have not read it .... don't waste your time, it's not worth it. This is definitely a book for the yard sale.

Amy Tan novels
I just finished reading 'The Bonesetters Daughter' by Amy Tan and I couldn't put it down. Had to try another Amy Tan novel so I'm taking this one on vacation.

Why so negative?
I read this about four years ago and was just amazed by the beautifully fictionalized allusions to real events. She deftly plays with three levels of reality and fiction, making the reader wonder what is real, what the author believes is real, and what is fiction throughout. It has colored my views of what is humanitarian, and teasingly helped me not be an idiot on my first trip overseas.

I found it to be delightful and powerful. It made an impression on me that persisted through four years. I loaned my copy out and it never came home, so I bought another copy. I recommended it to my book club tonight. So I'm amazed to see negative reviews. Please don't believe them. Don't expect Joy Luck Club--it's not that kind of novel. Give it a try on its own merits.

Disappointing
I love Amy Tan, but this book was so disappointing.The premise was odd and fictional (portrayed as truth).While the narrator was at time humorous, the pace was slow and the characters dull and unlikeable.I was hoping for at least some more insight into life in Asia, but again was disappointed.I couldn't wait for it to end. ... Read more

Product Description
““As compelling as Tan’s first bestseller, The Joy Luck Club. . . No one writes about mothers and daughters with more empathy than Amy Tan.”
–The Philadelphia Inquirer

“[An] absorbing tale of the mother-daughter bond . . . this book sing[s] with emotion and insight.”
–People


Ruth Young and her widowed mother, LuLing, have always had a tumultuous relationship. Now, before she succumbs to forgetfulness, LuLing gives Ruth some of her writings, which reveal a side of LuLing that Ruth has never known. . . .

In a remote mountain village where ghosts and tradition rule, LuLing grows up in the care of her mute Precious Auntie as the family endures a curse laid upon a relative known as the bonesetter. When headstrong LuLing rejects the marriage proposal of the coffinmaker, a shocking series of events are set in motion–all of which lead back to Ruth and LuLing in modern San Francisco. The truth that Ruth learns from her mother’s past will forever change her perception of family, love, and forgiveness.


“A strong novel, filled with idiosyncratic, sympathetic characters; haunting images; historical complexity; significant contemporary themes; and suspenseful mystery.”
–Los Angeles Times

“For Tan, the true keeper of memory is language, and so the novel is layered with stories that have been written down–by mothers for their daughters, passing along secrets that cannot be said out loud but must not be forgotten.”
–The New York Times Book Review

“Tan at her best . . . rich and hauntingly forlorn . . . The writing is so exacting and unique in its detail.”
–San Francisco ChronicleAmazon.com Review
At the beginning of Amy Tan's fourth novel, two packets of papers written in Chinese calligraphy fall into the hands of Ruth Young. One bundle istitled Things I Know Are True and the other, Things I Must NotForget. The author? That would be the protagonist's mother, LuLing, whohas been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. In these documents the elderlymatriarch, born in China in 1916, has set down a record of her birth andfamily history, determined to keep the facts from vanishing as her minddeteriorates.

A San Francisco career woman who makes her living by ghostwritingself-help books, Ruth has little idea of her mother's past or trueidentity. What's more, their relationship has tended to be an angry one.Still, Ruth recognizes the onset of LuLing's decline--along with her ownremorse over past rancor--and hires a translator to decipher the packets.She also resolves to "ask her mother to tell her about her life. For once,she would ask. She would listen. She would sit down and not be in a hurryor have anything else to do."

Framed at either end by Ruth's chapters, the central portion of TheBonesetter's Daughter takes place in China in the remote, mountainousregion where anthropologists discovered Peking Man in the 1920s. Heresuperstition and tradition rule over a succession of tiny villages. Andhere LuLing grows up under the watchful eye of her hideously scarrednursemaid, Precious Auntie. As she makes clear, it's not an enviablesetting:

I noticed the ripe stench of a pig pasture, the pockmarked land dug up bydragon-bone dream-seekers, the holes in the walls, the mud by the wells,the dustiness of the unpaved roads. I saw how all the women we passed,young and old, had the same bland face, sleepy eyes that were mirrors oftheir sleepy minds.

Customer Reviews (329)

How much for a Kindle edition????
I like Amy Tan's books. But why would I pay so much for a Kindle addition when in truth, most of her books can now be found in remainders bins for $6.00 or less. Is this Amy Tan's, or her editor's, way of expressing their displeasure with e-books? If I read any more Amy Tan it will be in a free print copy from my local library.

A great book--entertaining, emotional, authentic
I can't say enough good things about this book. It's a beautifully crafted and dramatically conceived novel that compares two generations, contrasts the immigrant experience with the experience of the native born, and explores the traditional and changing roles of women in China and in the United States. This is simply a great story and it never lags or bores you. I zipped through it quickly, and I look forward to re-reading it again in the near future.

Simply a Wonderful Story
When Ruth Young was growing up she'd often been embarrassed by the strange ways her mother acted. Mother believed in ghosts, bad luck and curses. She wanted her mother to be more modern like her Auntie Gal. Mother and daughter were often at odds, often had serious arguments. As time moves on Ruth's mother gets even more eccentric, so she takes her to the doctor and finds out she has dementia.

There had been many secret between mother and daughter and when her mother finds out that she's losing her memory she decides to write down everything about her past, but she shows Ruth only the first part of what she's written, the part she knows is true.

This is much more in this wonderful novel that is about not only the tense relationship between mother and daughter, but about their reconciliation as well and a lot about forgiveness. I loved this book and I think you will too.

Captured the culture/ethnic details
The one-star reviews are accurate and I agree with their criticism.

However, surely we know that Amy Tan is not writing anthropological, or sociological material for academic research nor for intellectual inquiry. She's writing novels to entertain and to MAKE MONEY. Her genre is no more, or less worthy than espionage thrillers, medical thrillers, forensic thrillers,... or any other type of novel. She has a formula that works so it makes sense to keep using it!

Amy Tan's books are faithful renditions of the Asian propensity for tragedy, managing relationships, victim of global events, self-sacrifice,... She paints characters with the right gestures, accents, behaviors and beliefs.

If you like cultural/social details, accurately described but in an entertaining way, do read Tony Hillerman's many books about modern Navajo culture. The Shape Shifter

A Picture Worth a Thousand Words.....
If only photograph could speak - telling the story of a woman, a family, a culture, a history, a village, a country, a continent, a war, a life - then it would be a photograph worthy of a novel by Amy Tan.I read this in two full days.I just couldn't put it down. ... Read more

Product Description

A MAGICAL NIGHT WHEN SECRET WISHES CAN COME TRUE

On a rainy afternoon, three sisters wish for the rain to stoop, wish they could play in the puddles, wish for something, anything, to do. So Ying-Ying, their grandmother, tells them a tale from long ago. On the night of the Moon Festival, when Ying-ying was a little girl, she encountered the Moon Lady, who grants the secret wishes of those who ask, and learned from her that the best wishes are those you can make come true yourself. This haunting tale, adapted from Amy Tan's best-seller The Joy Luck Club and enhanced by Gretchen Schields's rich, meticulously detailed art, is a book for all to treasure. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Amy Tan books
book arrived fast and was in great shape.I adore Amy Tan books.This is a wonderful book for an older child.

Bad Story
Was trying to find a chinese story book as a gift to someone., And i thought this would be the good one with pictures.
Endup, this is not the right story, and the title of this story book is really misleading.It is totally not telling the story of Moon Lady, and also the name of the Moon Lday they stated is wrong too. It should be Chang-E.
So, whoever really want to know about the Moon Lady story, please DO NOT buy this book.

I loved the story.
I like the Sagwa cartoons so when I saw this book was done by the same author I thought I would try it. I liked it very much.

Very good
I read this book and watched the Sagwa TV series and I want to see more stories by Amy Tan aimed at children.The two stories are well written and in my opinion would recommend it to all parents even though I am not one.The best thing I like the two children's story Amy Tan wrote is that they keep you glued to them.Thanks Amy for the two good stories and I want to read more of them.

Beautiful Children's Book
Beautiful illustrations will entrance children of all ages as Amy Tan shows she can entertain both children and adults. ... Read more

Product Description
A stunning literary achievement, The Joy Luck Club explores the tender and tenacious bond between four daughters and their mothers. The daughters know one side of their mothers, but they don't know about their earlier never-spoken of lives in China. The mothers want love and obedience from their daughters, but they don't know the gifts that the daughters keep to themselves. Heartwarming and bittersweet, this is a novel for mother, daughters, and those that love them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (40)

Amazing Novel About Mothers and Daughters
My mother has been bugging me to read Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club for years now, and I recently decided to break down and try it. I'm glad that I did.

This book celebrates the bond between mothers and daughters, and discusses some of the difficulties and differences between being Chinese and being Chinese-American.

The novel follows the lives of four Chinese mothers and their American born daughters in San Francisco. It opens with the death of Jing-Mei "June" Woo's mother, and June's subsequent responsibility to take her mother's place at the Joy Luck Club and its traditional mah jong table. Around this table sit the four mothers of the Joy Luck Club, each with their own duties, joys, sorrows, and difficulties when it comes to understanding their American daughters.

Each mother and daughter has the opportunity to speak throughout the novel. Even though the individual characters only speak for two chapters each, the reader is able to get an intimate glimpse into the life of every woman, and to understand just how different Chinese are from Chinese-Americans. This aspect of the book particularly hit close to home for me, because one of my closest friend's parents emigrated to the U.S. from China, and he constantly struggles with the cultural disconnects between his Chinese-born parents and his American upbringing.

Tan's lyrical prose ties each story together into a carefully crafted narrative that gives readers just enough of the picture to fill in the blanks. There is not one needless word in this book. Each scene is filled with carefully chosen details that allow the reader to see the action unfold like a film in their minds. I could smell the rice and chicken cooking in each Chinese kitchen; I could hear the distinct difference between the accents of the Chinese mothers and the lack of accents in the American daughters. I could experience Chinatown in San Francisco through Tan's writing, even though I have never been there.

Tan is able to create relatable characters with issues unique to Chinese culture, as well as issues shared by every mother and daughter in every time and every culture. She speaks to every mother and daughter, and tries to help them reconcile, or at least understand, their differences.

This book is perfect for any mother and daughter to read; whether they are the closest of friends or the worst of enemies. It teaches daughters that they should listen to their mothers -and mothers than they can still learn from their daughters, no matter how old they may be.

Maybe next time, I'll listen a little more closely to my mother's literary suggestions

Lifechanging perspective
There's a reason some books become best sellers - they're just plain good. I truly believe that great stories are given to us by the gods, and that wonderful authors are the mediums for greatness.This is a perfect example.

Book was okay.Good Condition
The book was in good condition, but I wish I would've known that there was huge blue writing all on the inside cover.If I would've known, I wouldn't have bought it.

The Joy Luck Club
Thic copy appeared older than expected and the cover was not the same as advertised.

Finding one's wood
When I turned thirty, I was angry and unhappy, but didn't really know it. I figured that niggling feeling, the one I couldn't really identify, the one that wouldn't go away, was the natural result of having two little kids, too much time with nothing to think about on my hands,and, thanks to living in Iran, a really foreign country, a serious case of culture shock.

I believed that the unexamined life was absolutely worth living. Probing too deeply into my psyche, to my way of thinking, wasn't going to lead me anywhere good. I prided myself on being a survivor. Someone who didn't waste her time dwelling on things that couldn't be changed. Someone that, when in the heart of something awfull, eventually adjusted, and then forgot what normal ever looked like to begin with.

Plus, it was a whole bunch easier on my marriage if I didn't dig around in all that inner mud.If I didn't put a voice to what it was that I really wanted. Or felt.

Somewhere early on, all by myself, I had decided that my feelings were never as credible or important as those of my husband. So atuned to small shifts in his mood, in his body language, in his tone, I could sense what he wanted, what he felt, long before he came out with it himself. Long before I could figure out what was going on inside my heart.

And when things did boil over--as they will, even when you decide to ignore your secret rage--I was quick to blame myself.

Being angry at my husband quickly evolved into being angry with myself.

I assumed that discord sprang from my lack.A predictable byproduct of my thousand and one rather unforgivable flaws.

Instead of hashing issues out with my husband, defining what was bugging me, demanding or negotiating a solution like a healthy adult, I said and thought the most horrible things about myself.I abandoned my self in order to remain in a relationship free of conflict.I feared losing the relationship far more than losing my self.

Perhaps it was my Mom who'd sent me the book. Or maybe I'd borrowed it from one of my ex-patriot friends. But, the timing couldn't have been more serendipitous. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan centered on the lives of four Chinese immigrant mothers and their American-born daughters. And while the complicated relationships between two generations andtwo different cultural mindsets resonated with me, it was the floundering marriage of one of the daughters that held me in its grip.

How is it that when you can't see the mistakes of your own life because they're too up close and personal, when you're used to distracting yourself from yourself with an ever- present, vague sense of panic, it's easier to see the truth--the truth about yourself-- when observing a fictional character? How is it that other people's problems, even made up ones, are easier to face than one's own?

Married to a man who possesses all the power in the relationship, Lena St. Clair, prompted by a visit from her mother, begins to evaluate her marriage with the eyes of an outsider:

"She can see all this. And it annoys me that all she sees are the bad parts. But then I look around and everthing she's said is true..she knows what's going to happen to us...And she looks at me and frowns but doesn't say anything.And I feel embarrassed, knowing what she sees....I think how to explain this recalling the words Harold and I have used with each other in the past...But these words she could never understand."

l started to imagine what Mom would see if she stood in the middle of the 10X10 dorm room we were living in. Mom: A woman who had once asked me in a fit of frustration, "Do you have any idea how Muslim men treat their women?" The very same woman I had accused, in turn, of being a cheerleader. Waving her pom-poms around in an attempt to rally enthusiasm for her marriage.
To a volatile alcoholic--the one person in our family whose troubles were considered legitamate emergencies.

I could picture her pursing her thin lips at the talk-to-the-hand attitude my husband would adopt whenever I worked up the nerve to complain. About the lack of privacy, what with his mother moving in with us and sleeping at the foot of our bed. Or the lack of money,sharing our resources as he did with 2,521 aunts, uncles, and cousins.

I could hear Mom clear her throat when she got a load of just how quickly I backed down from an argument,deathly afraid of losing the life I'd once believed I'd wanted. Had fought tooth and nail for. But now suspected I really didn't want anymore.

But it was Lena St. Clair's dawning recognition of her own unhappiness, that gnawed on me as I read. The depth of the trouble she and her marriage were in.

Her utter lack of self-awareness:

"I love my work when I don't think about it too much.And when I do think about it, how much I get paid,how hard I work, how fair Harold is to everybody except me, I get upset..It's been on my mind, only I didn't really know it.I just felt a little uneasy about something..."

Lena was me. Like her, I ran from the truth. Had done so all my life.

Long before I wore a bra, I had become detached from my feelings. I had been taught in an alcoholic household to dismiss my intuitions. To accept, without argument, that black was white, and night was day. Here I was, an adult, perpetually dazed and confused.

I had no wood.

"Too little wood and you bend too quickly to listen to other people's ideas, unable to stand on your own."

I wasn't easy going, like I claimed to be, I was dangerously maleable.

And I wasn't just lost in a foreign country, barely able to read the street signs.I was lost as a person.I no longer knew, or remembered, who I was.

"I did not lose myself all at once. I rubbed out my face over the years. Washing away my pain, the same way carvings on stone are worn down by water."The Joy Luck Club

A year after I read The Joy Luck Club. Arrived at the truth. I came back to the U.S. with the kids on vacation. And I never went back.

After all this time, I still struggle with my fear of confrontation. My intense desire to ignore uncomfortable feelings. To put a happy face on and pretend there's nothing wrong. So as not to rock the boat.

I get that this is the worst thing I can do.

Because when the explosion comes, and it always does when you've stuffed so much down inside there's simply no more room, it will take everybody down with it. Nothing is left standing in its aftermath.


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Product Description
Amy Tan has established a reputation as a major novelist of not only the Asian American experience but the universal experience of family relationships. With the publication of her first novel, The Joy Luck Club, which touched the hearts of millions of readers, Tan joined the ranks of major contemporary novelists. Adapting her brand of Chinese traditional talk story as a vehicle for exploring the lives of the mothers and daughters at the center of her novels, Tan allows readers to experience the lives of her characters from multiple perspectives in parallel and intersecting narratives. In this first full-length study of her work, E.D. Huntley explores the fictional worlds Tan has created in her three novels, The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, and The Hundred Secret Senses. Examining the characters, narrative strategies, plot development, literary devices, setting, and major themes, Huntley explores the rich tapestry created in each of the novels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good Reference
This book is highly useful for use as a reference to the style, complexities, and the method of Tan's writing.I found it especially useful after completeling three of Tan's novels and having to present to a classroom, the style, symbols, characteristics in which Tan uses. ... Read more

Product Description

"Before you go out into the world," Ming Miao told her five kittens, "you must know the true story of your ancestors...."

And so begins the story of Sagwa of China, a mischievous, pearl white kitten. Sagwa lived in the House of the Foolish Magistrate, a greedy man who made up rules that helped only himself. One day, Sagwa fell into an inkwell and accidentally changed one of the Foolish Magistrate's rules. Little did Sagwa know she would alter the fate -- and the appearance -- of Chinese cats forever! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

It's ok but...
I would say this book is OK - I purchased it because my daughter loves siamese cats and my daughter is chinese.Not my favorite story line...it's unique...but she likes it.

Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat
My Daughter loved it.She had been hooked on the television animated version of Sagwa on PBS, but wanted to read a book actually written by Amy Tan.

Great book.
I loved the Sagwa TV show and want ed to give this a try. I liked it a lot and it was an interesting twist from what the TV show was. I liked it very much.

This is a wonderful book with an interesting story.
Like many, I bought this book to get the background on Sagwa after watching the TV show. This is a wonderful story, told by the mother cat about her ancestors. It is engaging for both the adult reader and my children. And the illustrations are captivating and complex, yet simple enough that my children always look very closely and study each page. (they are 4 and 3). The illustrations aren't at all like the TV show, and truly I like the book's illustrations better. They are more suited to the story. I also like this book because it presents a story that is different than most silly/giggle books, yet is still very interesting and entertaining for both the adult and children.

ENDEARING FELINE WHIMSEY
A WONDERFULLY TOLD CAT-TAIL! THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE LOVELY AND APPROPRIATE TO THE PLAYFUL THEME OF THE BOOK. ... Read more

Product Description
The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God's Wife are two of the important works by this popular novelist.

This title, Amy Tan, part of Chelsea House Publishers’ Modern Critical Views series, examines the major works of Amy Tan through full-length critical essays by expert literary critics. In addition, this title features a short biography on Amy Tan, a chronology of the author’s life, and an introductory essay written by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University. ... Read more

Product Description
In the mid–1980s, Amy Tan was a successful but unhappy corporate speechwriter. By the end of the decade, she was perched firmly atop the best-seller lists with The Joy Luck Club, with more popular novels to follow. Tan’s work—once pigeonholed as ethnic literature—resonates with universal themes that cross cultural and ideological boundaries, and prove wildly successful with readers of all stripes. Tender, sincere, complex, honest and uncompromising in its portrayal of Chinese culture and its affect on women, Amy Tan’s work earned her both praise and excoriation from critics, adoration from fans, and a place as one of America’s most notable modern writers.

This reference work introduces and summarizes Amy Tan’s life, her body of literature, and her characters. The main text is comprised of entries covering characters, dates, historical figures and events, allusions, motifs and themes from her works. The entries combine critical insights with generous citations from primary and secondary sources. Each entry concludes with a selected bibliography. There is also a chronology of Tan’s family history and her life. Appendices provide an overlapping timeline of historical and fictional events in Tan’s work; a glossary of foreign terms found in her writing; and a list of related writing and research topics. An extensive bibliography and a comprehensive index accompany the text. ... Read more

Product Description
A first novel which became a major US film. From the wealthy homes of pre-Revolutionary China to downtown San Francisco, this is the story of four mothers and their first-generation Chinese-American daughters; two generations of women struggling to come to terms with their cultural identity.Amazon.com Review
Four mothers, four daughters, four families whose historiesshift with the four winds depending on who's "saying" thestories. In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to SanFrancisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, andtalk. United in shared unspeakable loss and hope, they call themselvesthe Joy Luck Club. Rather than sink into tragedy, they choose togather to raise their spirits and money. "To despair was to wishback for something already lost. Or to prolong what was alreadyunbearable." Forty years later the stories and historycontinue.

With wit and sensitivity, Amy Tan examines the sometimespainful, often tender, and always deep connection between mothers anddaughters. As each woman reveals her secrets, trying to unravel thetruth about her life, the strings become more tangled, moreentwined. Mothers boast or despair over daughters, and daughters rolltheir eyes even as they feel the inextricable tightening of theirmatriarchal ties. Tan is an astute storyteller, enticing readers toimmerse themselves into these lives of complexity andmystery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (454)

One of my favorites
I was given this book by my 8th grade social studies teacher when I was 13 years old, on the eve of my 30th birthday this book is still a treasured favorite.The complexity of the relationships between the daughters and their mothers is compelling.The histories of the mothers are telling and heartbreaking.This book will take you to a different place and time, give you a look into lives where tradition and culture can crush you or set you free.As a person of few words it is hard to describe my long history with this book, I guess the most prudent thing to say is thank you Mrs. Potter.

Great condition; fast shipping :)
This is such an awesome book! It was in great condition when I received it and it shipped very fast!

Gift idea
This book was meant as a gift. I was disappointed when the book arrived, because the dust jacket was worn and not "new" as described. But the book itself was in good condition.

Good Book
The Joy Luck Club is an incredibly interesting book. It tells of the hardships, joys, and challenges four Chinese-born women and their daughters experienced while in China and after they came to America. The book creates a very vivid and fascinating look at the Chinese culture and belief system. Amy Tan is a very accomplished writer who obviously took plenty of time compiling and writing the tales contained within. She grew up around the women she wrote about, so intimate details can be found throughout.

will enjoy this again
My Aunt who is Philipino liked this book and kept bugging me to read it. I heard it was depressing and was afraid I would dislike it.I ended upgetting it on tape. I love Amy Tan's quiet,clear girlish voice.She pronounces all the Chinese words so you understand what she is saying.The food these ladies cook when they are together sounded mouthwatering.(wished they would have included recipes)
There are sad parts in it, but its mostly about Mothers and daughters and the weird relationships we tend to have with the other generation. I could really relate to the main character and her relationship with her mother even though I am not chinese.You love your mom to peices and they love you ,but sometimes the two of you don't speak the same language.Or your personalities are so diverse that what make sense to you seems foriegn to them.
The only person who didn't make any sense to me is Waverly.She seems embarrased of her mother because she isn't a yuppy lawyer like her. I could understand worrying about her clueless fiance offending her mother.But:How could you not want your mother to be proud of you and brag on what a good daughter you are? That's what mother's are supposed to do!Yes Waverly's Mom can be a little over the top but she is always there rooting for her daughter!
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Product Description
The Chinese believe an unseen red thread joins those in this life who are destined to connect. For photographer Richard Bowen, that thread led him to China's state-run welfare institutions, where there are thousands of children, primarily girls, growing up without families to take care of them. Mei Mei presents a poignant glimpse of just a few of these remarkable children. Composed against neutral backgrounds, these portraits capture the girls’ inner lives, away from their often bleak surroundings. The images show an almost endless range of expressions: small faces filled with longing and hope, joy and sadness, humor and mischief, defiance and despair. Through the camera's eye these young children are no longer orphans, but individuals whose personalities are as vital, distinct, and beautiful as any mother's child. When that unique human being comes into focus, the connection is made and the red thread becomes visible. And once seen, the bond can never be broken. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Depressing; do NOT show to your adopted children!
I agree with the two reviewers above about this book being entirely too depressing and exploitive. All the photos of crying children, injured children and helpless children are just not something I nor my family enjoy looking at; we get enough of that in the daily news.Had this book been a written account of the childrens' individual lives and hardships, then maybe it would have been informative and educational reading.But this book includes very little text and absolutely no insight into the children who were photographed.It's almost as if the orphanage director and the photographer forced these poor souls against their will to pose, then pinched their arms to make them cry for the camera. If the goal of Half the Sky Foundation was to frighten adoptive parents into coughing up more donations to "save" Chinese children, then they have arguable succeeded. But I just cannot believe that anyone who has ever purchased this book has looked through it more than once before shelving it. I instead suggest donating directly to orphanages, but if you still want to buy this book, just keep it far out of reach from children under 10 lest it traumatize them. My own three adopted children (ages 5, 8 and 13) especially love looking through Tom Carter's CHINA: Portrait of a People, which includes a great many photographs of Chinese children of all walks of life from across the 33 provinces. I highly suggest it for educating your adopted Chinese children about their motherland through photos.

Beautiful book
This book is great for anyone who enjoys portrait photography OR the plight of Chinese orphan girls.I liked it so much I bought one for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day, and she enjoyed it immensely.It tugs at the heart of any loving parent.

Children's rights?
These are poignant pictures. Now imagine seeing your child's photo everywhere. Imagine your child is on the cover. This book is painful for some families.

Chinese Portraits
This book is all pictures of children in orphanages and epitomizes the images of the children we saw when we went to get our daughter from China....They are so beautiful without even saying a word...Thanks for a great product.

A book that stirs action
This book was given to me as a gift by someone who knew I have a strong bond with children from China. Each page I turned brought memories flooding back of the time I spent caring for children just like these, behind the walls of the secretive orphanage. Some of the haunting expressions are reminders of those I saw on a daily basis. When I feel my memories of China fading, I pull out the book to take me back. I believe a person cannot look through it and avoid being stirred to action to do something to help the cause of lost children in China.

www.kaybratt.com
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Customer Reviews (2)

Mothers and Cultures
An expression of the relationships between mother, daughter, and cultural differences, Amy Tan's novel The Joy Luck Club immerses its audience in a collection of short tales.Like Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg Ohio, the literary mosaic connects several abstracts into one continuous exploration of the communal, yet separate, personal life account.Unlike Anderson's tale, Tan has organized her narratives into a coherent, immediately understandable pattern: the stories of mothers, then daughters, and finally a confrontation in the daughters' adulthood lives and the issues newly prevalent to their current situations.From the post-complete reading perspective, the observer can now step back to see the larger message Tan seems to convey through the redemption of newer generations reconciling with the older.

A quick read, the primary difficulty in interpretation being the required, constant effort to connect the names of protagonists to their specific stories.

a fascinating read - recommended (especially if you've ever had a mother)
"The Joy Luck Club" is truly a wonderful novel.On top of the interesting cultural aspects and compelling storyline, the book explores the relationship between mother and daughter in a way that all cultures and generations can relate to on some level.The mixture of humor and sadness made for a memorable read.The characters seemed like real people, which made their individual stories that much more interesting and powerful.Usually it takes me a long time to get really into a novel, but "The Joy Luck Club" hooked me after a few pages.The book opens with the fascinating story of June's mother and proceeds to portray a variety of stories that beautifully weave together throughout the novel.I definitely recommend this book, especially if you've ever had a mother. ... Read more

Product Description
A major novel from the internationally bestselling author of 'The Joy Luck Club', 'The Kitchen God's Wife' and 'The Hundred Secret Senses'.LuLing Young is now in her eighties, and finally beginning to feel the effects of old age. Trying to hold on to the evaporating past, she begins to write down all that she can remember of her life as a girl in China. Meanwhile, her daughter Ruth, a ghostwriter for authors of self-help books, is losing the ability to speak up for herself in front of the man she lives with. LuLing can only look on, helpless: her prickly relationship with her daughter does not make it easy to discuss such matters. In turn, Ruth has begun to suspect that something is wrong with her mother: she says so many confusing and contradictory things.Ruth decides to move in with her ailing mother, and while tending to her discovers the story LuLing wrote in Chinese, of her tumultuous life growing up in a remote mountain village known as Immortal Heart.LuLing tells of the secrets passed along by her mute nursemaid, Precious Auntie; of a cave where dragon bones are mined and where Peking Man was discovered; of the crumbling ravine known as the End of the World, where Precious Auntie's bones lie, and of the curse that LuLing believes she released through betrayal. Like layers of sediment being removed, each page unfolds into an even greater mystery: Who was Precious Auntie, whose suicide changed the path of LuLing's life?Set in contemporary San Francisco and pre-war China, The Bonesetter's Daughter is an excavation of the human spirit. With great warmth and humour, Amy Tan gives us a mesmerising story of a mother and daughter discovering together that what they share in their bones through history and heredity is priceless beyond measure. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Similar to Other Tan Novels
"The Bonesetter's Daughter" was a good book-- it was interesting and well written; however, it felt too much like some of Tan's other works, it was as if I were re-reading the same book only it had a different title.

The Bonesetter's Daughter
The book I received was in great condition and it was mailed to me in a timely manner. ... Read more

Product Description

A tour-de-force in Asian American writing, Amy Tan has created works that are essential to high school and undergraduate literature classes and are often book club selections. Reading Amy Tan is a handy resource that offers both groups plot summaries of five of Tan's novels, as well as character and thematic analysis. The handbook also provides an overview of Tan's life and discusses how she emerged onto the scene as a novelist.

Tan's typical themes, including Asian American issues and mother-daughter relationships, are examined in relation to today's current events and pop culture. Readers will also discover how and where they can find Tan on the Internet, and how the media has received her works. The "What Do I Read Next" chapter will help readers find other authors and works that deal with similar subjects. This handbook is an indispensable tool for both high school and public libraries.