Amy Tan

Amy Tan (Chinese:谭 恩 美; pinyin: Tan Enmei ) ( born February 19, 1952 in Oakland, California) is a Chinese- American writer. Tan writes in their works about the encounter of traditional Chinese with American mores.

Life and work

Amy Tan was born in Oakland (California ) as the daughter of Chinese immigrants. Her parents were the electrical engineer and Baptist minister John Tan and his wife Daisy, a nurse. Tan was 14 years old when her father and her older brother died of brain tumors. Shortly thereafter, she moved with her mother and her younger brother Peter to Montreux, where she received her degree. She studied linguistics at the San José State University and enrolled after their master first in Santa Cruz and then in Berkeleycin the doctoral program of the University of California a. However, they broke off the doctoral project and began working as a children's speech therapist.

Amy Tan became known for the books The wife of the fire -god and daughters of heaven, which was filmed under its own director. Further works are eg The hundred secret senses and The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings, a collection of non-fiction essays. In addition, she wrote two children's books: The Moon Woman (1992) and The Chinese Samtkatze (1994). Her books have been translated into 35 languages.

The libretto for the 2008, premiered at the San Francisco Opera musical version of her bestseller The Bonesetter 's Daughter Amy Tan wrote itself composer of the opera is Stewart Wallace.

In 1974 she married the accountant Lou DeMattei and now lives with him in Sausalito.

She became seriously ill with Lyme disease. The cause of their symptoms, the impossible made ​​their writing long, but was correctly diagnosed only after years and treated.

Amy Tan is a background singer and percussionist in the amateur band Rock Bottom Remainders, which consists exclusively of famous writers, journalists and scriptwriters.

Works

Novels

  • The Joy Luck Club, 1989 ( German daughters of Heaven, 1992)
  • The Kitchen God 's Wife, 1991 (Eng. The wife of the fire of God, 1993)
  • The Hundred Secret Senses, 1995 (Eng. The hundred secret senses, 1998)
  • The Bonesetter 's Daughter, 2001 (Eng. The Ink Pen, 2003)
  • Saving Fish from Drowning, 2005 (Eng. The spirit of Madame Chen, 2006)
  • The Valley of Amazement, 2013 - in preparation

Children's Books

  • The Moon Lady, 1992 ( with Gretchen Shields ) (Eng. The Moon Woman, 1993)
  • Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat, 1994 ( with Gretchen Shields ) (Eng. The Chinese Samtkatze, 1994)

Anthologies

  • The Best American Short Stories 1999, 1999 ( with Katrina Kenison )

Non-fiction

  • Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America With Three Cords and an Attitude, 1994 ( with Dave Barry, Stephen King, Tabitha King, Barbara Kingsolver )
  • Mother, 1996 ( with Maya Angelou, Mary Higgins Clark)
  • The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings, 2003 (Eng. The Other Side of Heaven: Thoughts on Life, 2005)

Awards (selection)

  • Bay Area Book Reviewers Award
  • Commonwealth Gold Award
  • American Library Association 's Notable Books
  • American Library Association 's Best Book for Young Adults
  • New York Times Notable Book
  • Booklist Editor's Choice
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