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88-966: Amy Ruth Tan (born February 19, 1952) is an American author best known for her novel The Joy Luck Club (1989), which was adapted into 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 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

176-482: A high context culture and the Americanized daughters from a low context culture . The mothers believe that the daughters will intuitively understand their cryptic utterances, but the daughters don't understand them at all. Rose is somewhat passive and is a bit of a perfectionist. She had an unsettling childhood experience when her youngest brother, Bing, drowned while she was supposed to be watching him, and his body

264-414: 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. These projects had turned into a 90-hours-a-week workaholism. Early in 1985, Tan began writing her first novel, The Joy Luck Club , while working as

352-585: A Chinese American man named Tin Jong and has three children: sons Winston and Vincent, and daughter Waverly. Lindo experiences regret over losing some of her Chinese identity by living so long in America (she is treated like a tourist on a visit to China); however, she expresses concern that Waverly's American upbringing has formed a barrier between them. From a young age, Ying-Ying is told by her wealthy and conservative family that Chinese girls should be meek and gentle. This

440-766: A Tiger like herself, has inherited or emulated her passive behaviors and trapped herself in a loveless marriage with a controlling husband. She finally resolves to call upon the more assertive qualities of her Tiger nature, to appeal to those qualities in Lena. She will tell Lena her story in the hope that she will be able to break free from the same passivity that ruined most of her young life back in China. Jing-Mei, commonly called "June", has never fully understood her mother and seems directionless in life. During June's childhood, her mother used to tell her that she could be anything she wants; however, she particularly wanted her daughter to be gifted,

528-428: A bag of clothes, a bag of food, and her twin baby daughters. During the long journey, Suyuan contracts such severe dysentery that she feels certain she will die. Fearing that a dead mother would doom her babies' chances of rescue, she reluctantly and emotionally leaves her daughters under a barren tree, together with all her belongings, along with a note asking anyone who might find the babies to care for them and contact

616-498: A brother, but her cruel mother-in-law expected Lindo to produce a grandson. She restricted most of Lindo's daily activities, eventually ordering her to remain on bed rest until she could conceive and deliver a child. Determined to escape this unfortunate situation, Lindo carefully observed the other people in the household and eventually formed a clever plan to escape her marriage without dishonoring herself, her family and her in-laws. She managed to convince her in-laws that Huang Tyan Yu

704-521: A business writer. She joined a writers' workshop, the Squaw Valley Program, 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

792-465: A carhop resurgence, with some franchises cashing in on the nostalgia and memories of baby boomers . The aluminum window trays used by carhops are still manufactured and sold today. The uniforms of early carhops were important, as many drive-ins were competing and something eye-catching was seen as gamesmanship. There was often a military, airline, space age , or cheerleader theme, or any other concept an owner thought would bring customers in. A carhop

880-495: A child star who amazes the world, like Ginny Tiu (seen briefly on television) or June's rival Waverly. At the beginning of the novel, June is chosen to replace her mother's seat in the Joy Luck Club after her mother's death. At the end of the novel, June is still trying to deal with her mother's death, and she visits China to see the twin half-sisters (Wang Chwun Yu and Wang Chwun Hwa) whom her mother had been forced to abandon when

968-553: A common sight in Dallas , Texas . Two men, a businessman named J.G. Kirby and a physician named R.W. Jackson, decided to take advantage of the fact that many people owned cars and more were coming. They realized that many of the drivers would rather not get out of their cars to eat. They opened a restaurant called the Pig Stand , which had male carhops from its inception. The A&W Restaurants corporate website actually claims to have opened

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1056-566: A convincing story to annul her marriage and emigrate to the United States. The final story of the first section follows Ying-Ying St. Clair, who tells the story of how she fell into a lake during the Zhongqiujie festival when she was only four. After being rescued by a group of fishermen, she realizes that she is lost. This experience emotionally traumatizes her, and she is dropped at the shore, and wanders into an outdoor performance featuring

1144-401: A great pianist and June shows no interest in being anything else but herself. Around her 30th birthday, Suyuan presents her an old piano which she used to play as a child. Although June admits she had forgotten how to play the piano, Suyuan encourages her to try again. She admits to June that she still has the talent to be a great pianist, but self-doubt holds her back. The third section follows

1232-576: A leg from a table belonging to Harold, Lena finally admitted she's unhappy in her marriage including how frustrated she is with him for taking credit for her business and design ideas. Ying-Ying encourages her to leave Harold and not come back until he treats her with more respect. While The Joy Luck Club earned high praise, it also received criticism for perpetuating racist stereotypes about Asian Americans. Literary figures such as Chinese American author Frank Chin said that it depicted Chinese culture as backwards, cruel, and misogynistic . He attributed

1320-489: 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. Putnam Books auctioned the reprint rights in April 1989, 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

1408-633: A suicide attempt to prevent An-Mei and her mother from getting their own small house, An-Mei's mother successfully commits suicide herself, eating tangyuan laced with lethal amounts of opium. Also taking advantage of Wu Tsing's beliefs, she times her death so that her soul is due to return on the first day of the Lunar New Year , a day when all debts must be settled lest the debtor suffer great misfortune. An-Mei takes her younger brother's arm and demands that Wu Tsing honor them and her mother or face great consequences. When Second Wife attempts to dispute this at

1496-544: A talk with Lena and convinced her to leave Harold. Lindo Jong relates how she arrived in San Francisco and met An-Mei Hsu when they both worked at a fortune-cookie factory, which eventually gave her the means to plant the idea of marriage in her boyfriend's head. The novel's final episode returns to June, and her mother's desire to find her lost twin daughters. June and her father fly to China, where June meets her half-sisters and embraces her Chinese heritage. In doing so, she

1584-451: 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 . In 1987, Amy traveled with Daisy to China, where she met her three half-sisters. 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

1672-473: A tree house, but also to be a place where we could live, comfortably, into old age" with accessibility features. In recent years, she has developed interests in birding and nature journaling. The Joy Luck Club (novel) In 1993, the novel was adapted into a feature film directed by Wayne Wang and starring Ming-Na Wen , Lauren Tom , Tamlyn Tomita , France Nguyen , Rosalind Chao , Kieu Chinh , Tsai Chin , Lisa Lu , and Vivian Wu . The screenplay

1760-491: A vested interest in casting Chinese men in the worst possible light". 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. 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

1848-495: A weak foundation. Lena finally admits she is not happy in her marriage to Harold and is lost inside. Ying-Ying encourages her to stop being passive and stand up to her husband or nothing will change. Waverly Jong worries about her mother's opinion of her white fiancé, Rich, and recalls quitting chess after becoming angry at her mother in the marketplace. She believes that her mother will still have absolute power over her and will object to her forthcoming marriage to Rich, after she did

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1936-538: A year. When she was fifteen, her father and older brother, Peter, both died of brain tumors within six months of each other. 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 . 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

2024-413: Is a highly superstitious man, and Second Wife takes advantage of this weakness by making false suicide attempts and threatening to haunt him as a ghost if he does not let her have her way. According to Chinese tradition, a person's soul comes back after three days to settle scores with the living. Wu-Tsing, therefore, is known to be afraid to face the ghost of an angry or scorned wife. After Second Wife fakes

2112-640: Is absurd, but she later discovers this to be true. She hires a good lawyer and fights for possession of the house, which she eventually wins. This forces Ted to take Rose more seriously and not continue taking her for granted. It's unknown if they ever reconciled. Waverly is an independent-minded and intelligent woman, but is annoyed by her mother's constant criticism. Well into her adult life, she finds herself restrained by her subconscious fear of letting her mother down. During their childhood, June and Waverly become childhood rivals; their mothers constantly compared their daughters' development and accomplishments. Waverly

2200-491: Is engaged to her boyfriend Rich Schields. When Waverly believes that Lindo will object to her engagement to Rich after a failed dinner party, she discovers her mother had already accepted it. Throughout Lena's childhood, she gradually becomes her mother's voice and interprets her mother's Chinese words for others. Like her father Clifford, she translates Ying-ying's words to sound more pleasant than what Ying-ying actually says. Ying-ying has taught Lena to beware of consequences, to

2288-515: Is especially difficult for her, as she feels it out of step with her character as a Tiger . She begins to develop a passive personality and represses her feelings as she grows up in Wuxi . Ying-Ying marries a charismatic man named Lin Xiao not out of love, but because she believed it was her fate. Her husband is revealed to be abusive and openly has extramarital affairs with other women. When Ying-Ying discovers she

2376-410: Is now forbidden to enter the family home. An-Mei's mother, however, still wishes to be part of her daughter's life. After An-Mei's grandmother dies, An-mei moves out to live with her mother in the home of her mother's new husband, Wu-Tsing, much to the disagreement of her relatives who insists she remains at home with them. An-Mei learns that her mother was coerced into being Wu-Tsing's concubine through

2464-446: Is pregnant, she has an abortion and decides to live with her relatives in a smaller city in China. After ten years, she moves to Shanghai and works in a clothing store, where she meets an American man named Clifford St. Clair. He falls in love with her, but Ying-Ying cannot express any strong emotion after her first marriage. He courts her for four years, and she agrees to marry him after learning that Lin Xiao had died, which she takes as

2552-493: Is raised by her grandparents and other relatives during her early years in Ningbo after her widowed mother shocks the family by becoming a concubine to a middle-aged wealthy man after her first husband's death. This becomes a source of conflict for the young An-Mei, as her aunts and uncles deeply resent her mother for such a dishonorable act. They try to convince An-Mei that it is not fitting for her to live with her disgraced mother, who

2640-506: Is right: “in Chinese society…the man is the one who creates the rules and the woman… has no choice [except] obeying these rules." Harold's act of dictatorship over Lena could be the reason for her created self-doubt: "in…patriarchy, men possess the highest status... so that women's position is subordinate to them." She is like her mother, like a ghost, and her mother wants to help her regain her spirit and stand up for herself. When Ying-Ying breaks

2728-610: The American Masters series on PBS . (It was later released on Netflix .) Tan's writing has been praised for its bravery in exploring both the personal struggles and triumphs of immigrant families. 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

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2816-521: The New Yorker . After the acceptances and a rejection, Tan joined a new San Francisco writers' group led by Giles. 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

2904-571: The United States , in order to escape the chaos of the Chinese Civil War . She recounts that her father and she would read the thesaurus together, since “he was very interested in what a word contains.” 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. Amy attended Marian A. Peterson High School in Sunnyvale , for

2992-472: The "much more" that she remembered, as mentioned in the dedication page of her first book. This novel is significant, as it narrates a historical period of China between the 1930s and 1940s, including Nanjing Massacre . G. P. Putnam's Sons released the book in June 1991 and priced the hardcover at US$ 21.95. Tan's third novel, The Hundred Secret Senses , was a departure from the first two novels, in focusing on

3080-688: The "rare fidelity and beauty" of her storytelling. 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. In 2021, Tan was presented the National Humanities Medal for her contribution to expanding the American literary canon, and in

3168-458: The Japanese attacked China. Only when she visits China to meet her half-sisters and tell them about their mother, June finally accepts her Chinese heritage and makes her peace with her mother. One critic has suggested that the reason for the communication gap between June and her mother, and between the other daughters and their mothers—a major theme of the novel—occurs because the mothers come from

3256-503: The Joy Luck Club, and focuses on the four mothers. June relates the story of how her mother Suyuan was the wife of an officer in the Kuomintang during World War II and how she was forced to flee from her home in Kweilin and abandon her twin daughters. Suyuan later found out that her first husband died. She later married Canning Woo and immigrated to the United States where their daughter, June,

3344-441: The Joy Luck Club. The stories told in this novel revolve around the Joy Luck Club women and their daughters. Structurally, the novel is divided into four major sections, with two sections focusing on the stories of the mothers and two sections on the stories of the daughters. The first section, "Feathers from a Thousand Li Away", introduces the Joy Luck Club through daughter Jing-Mei "June" Woo, whose late mother Suyuan Woo founded

3432-553: The Joy Luck children as adult women, all facing various conflicts. In Lena's story, she narrates her troubling marital problems and how she fears being inferior to her husband, Harold Livotny. She does not realize he has taken advantage of her both at home and at work, where he is also her boss and earns much more than her. Ying-Ying is very much aware of this. She pointed out how Lena knew a table would crumble yet did nothing to stop it, symbolizing that her marriage will crumble because it has

3520-463: The Moon Lady , said to grant wishes. But when Ying-Ying approaches the Moon Lady after the play to wish to be returned to her family, she discovers the Moon Lady is played by a man. The second section traces the childhoods of the Joy Luck children. In the first story, Waverly Jong talks about how she started playing chess, first with her brothers and then with old men in the playground near her school. At

3608-558: The Second Wife to realize that she has lost control of the household and brought trouble on herself, so she backs down. Fearing bad karma on the way, Wu Tsing honors both An-Mei and her brother as his children and their mother as his favorite First Wife. Ying-Ying St. Clair reveals how her first husband, a womanizer, abandoned her and how she married an American man she did not love after relinquishing her sense of control in her life. She later took back her sense of control when she finally had

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3696-829: The age of 83; she had Alzheimer's disease . 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. Amy met him on a blind date , and she married him in 1974. Amy, later, received bachelor's and master's degrees in English and linguistics from San José State University . She took doctoral courses in linguistics at University of California, Santa Cruz and University of California, Berkeley . While in school, Tan worked several odd jobs—serving as

3784-410: The age of nine, she becomes a national chess champion. She is embarrassed when her mother, Lindo, introduces her to everyone she meets, showing her off like a trophy and seeming to take the credit for her daughter's brilliance. This leads to an angry confrontation between the two of them. Lena relates the stories her mother told her when she was younger (her great grandfather sentenced a beggar to die in

3872-451: The agent considered to be insufficient. Tan eventually accepted a second offer from G. P. Putnam's Sons for $ 50,000 in December 1987. The Joy Luck Club consists of eight related stories about the experiences of four Chinese–American mother–daughter pairs. Tan dedicated the book to her mother, with the following words: "You asked me, once, what I would remember. This, and much more." Being

3960-431: The anniversary of the day she identified the body, she lost her voice. Tan believes she developed chronic Lyme disease, a condition unrecognized by medical science, in 1998. She attributes health complications like epileptic seizures to chronic Lyme disease. Tan co-founded LymeAid 4 Kids, which helps uninsured children pay for treatment. Tan also developed depression, for which she was prescribed antidepressants. Part of

4048-466: The beach. Her youngest brother, Bing, falls into the ocean when her other brothers fight. She returns along with her mother An-Mei to search for Bing, but in vain. The last story is that of June Woo and the pressure that her mother puts on her to perform exceedingly well in some field (to be a child prodigy). She begins to learn to play the piano but does not perform well in a concert and stops playing. This disappoints her mother because she wanted her to be

4136-471: The boy as her own child to ensure her place in the household. Second Wife also tried to win over An-mei upon her arrival in Wu-Tsing's mansion, giving her a necklace made of "pearls" that her mother later revealed were actually glass beads, by crushing one with her teacup. An-Mei's mother re-knots the necklace to hide the missing bead, but now An-Mei knows the truth about Second Wife's seeming generosity. Wu-Tsing

4224-564: The civilian workforce and pretty girls were seen as having an adverse effect of attracting loiterers . During the mid 1960s, as newer drive-ins began offering inside seating and drive-through service, the number of carhops declined dramatically and they are seldom seen today. Carhops can still be found at a few remaining original drive-in stands and nostalgic fast food establishments, mostly in smaller and rural towns with local ownership. Sonic Drive-In still employs carhops at most of their over 3,500 restaurants. In recent years, there has been

4312-402: The conditions set forth by his divorce papers. She hires a good lawyer and wins possession of the house, forcing Ted to take her more seriously. In June's story, June has an argument with Waverly at a Chinese New Year's dinner the year before the story begins. Realizing that June has been humiliated, Suyuan gives her a special jade pendant called "life's importance", which she has worn since June

4400-552: The extent that Lena visualizes disaster in the taking of any risk. Lena's husband, Harold, is also her boss. He takes the credit for Lena's business and design ideas. He demands financial "equality" in their marriage. Lena is an associate while Harold is a partner, so he has a larger salary than she does. However, he insists that all household expenses be divided equally between them. Harold believes that by making everything equal, they can make their love equal as well. Lena feels frustrated and powerless. She settles for what Harold tells her

4488-402: The father. Suyuan then departs, expecting to die. However, she is rescued by a truck and finds out her husband has died. She later remarries, goes to America , and forms a new Joy Luck Club with three other Chinese female immigrants she met at church. She gives birth to another daughter, but her abandonment of her twin girls haunts her for the rest of her life. After many years, Suyuan learns that

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4576-486: The first carhop restaurant in 1923, just two years after the Pig Stand initiated carhops. The term itself, a play on the word "bellhop", was not used in print until 1937. Women soon replaced male carhops during World War II , because most American men left their jobs to join the military and restaurant owners quickly discovered that a pretty girl sold more food. This declined in the late 1940s and 1950s, when men returned to

4664-410: The funeral rites, An-Mei quickly makes an example of her and shows her awareness of Second Wife's deceptions by crushing the fake pearl necklace under her feet. This symbolizes her new power over the woman who made her mother's life miserable by abusing her and taking her brother away. Now fearing An-Mei, Second Wife realizes the bad karma she has brought upon herself and backs down, having lost control of

4752-420: The funeral, An-Mei takes her younger half-brother and forces Wu Tsing to honor both them and their deceased mother out of fear of him being haunted by their mother's ghost. The angry Second Wife attempts to dispute her claims and tries to discredit her. An-Mei quickly makes an example of her by destroying the fake pearl necklace that she originally gave to her, which exposes her cruelty and manipulation. This causes

4840-633: The home where her mother lived as the abused fourth concubine of Wu Tsing, whose second concubine manipulates and controls the household and has taken An-Mei's half-brother as her son. An-Mei learns how her mother was forced into accepting her position after Wu Tsing's second wife arranged for An-Mei's mother to be raped and shamed. When she came to her family for help, they cruelly turned their backs on her mother and told her to leave. An-Mei finds her mother has poisoned herself two days before Chinese New Year, knowing that Wu Tsing's superstitious beliefs will ensure An-Mei will grow up in favorable conditions. During

4928-460: The house. With this in mind, Wu-Tsing promises to treat his Fourth Wife's children, including An-Mei, as if they were his very own flesh and blood and their mother as his honored First Wife. An-Mei later immigrates to America, marries, and gives birth to seven children (four sons, three daughters). The youngest, a son named Bing, drowns at age four. Lindo is a strong-willed woman, a trait that her daughter Waverly attributes to her having been born in

5016-477: The kind and generous heart that June has. She also tells June that she understands the frustrations of never being good enough in her eyes and admits she is proud of June. The final section of the novel, the title of which refers to the Chinese goddess Xi Wangmu , returns to the viewpoints of the mothers as adults dealing with difficult choices. An-Mei reveals what happened after her grandmother died, she angered her relatives by leaving with her mother. They return to

5104-425: The manipulations of his Second Wife, the favourite. This woman arranged for An-Mei's mother, still in mourning for her original husband, to be raped by Wu-Tsing. When her mother came to her family for their assistance, they cruelly refused and disowned her. The stigma left An-Mei's mother with no choice but to marry Wu-Tsing and become his new but lowly Fourth Wife. She later lost her baby son to Second Wife, who claimed

5192-513: The mothers in Tan's story "never offer concrete anecdotes to teach [their daughters]" about their feelings and their pasts. The daughters spend a large portion of their lives feeling lost and trying to understand their place in society. Their "search for an essential Chinese identity... always frustrate[d] their attempts to understand... their identities." Carolyn See of the Los Angeles Times gave

5280-605: The novel a positive review, stating "The only negative thing I could ever say about this book is that I'll never again be able to read it for the first time." Carhop A carhop is a waiter or waitress who brings fast food to people in their cars at drive-in restaurants . Carhops usually work on foot but sometimes use roller skates , as depicted in movies such as American Graffiti and television shows such as Happy Days . Carhops have long been associated with hot rods and 1950s pop culture. The first carhops appeared in 1921 when automobiles were beginning to be

5368-423: The popularity of The Joy Luck Club to playing up racist stereotypes welcomed in mainstream America. He also noted that it lacks authenticity for its fabricated Chinese folk tales that depict "Confucian culture as seen through the interchangeable Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Vietnamese mix (depending on which is the yellow enemy of the moment ) of Hollywood." Harvard Crimson writer, Allen Soong, reflected that "while

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5456-433: The proper sign to move on. She allows Clifford to control most aspects of her life; he mistranslates her words and actions, and even changes her name to "Betty". Ying-Ying gives birth to her daughter, Lena, after moving to San Francisco with St. Clair. When Lena is around ten years old, Ying-Ying becomes pregnant a third time, but the baby boy is anencephalic and soon dies. Ying-Ying is horrified when she realises that Lena,

5544-568: The reader. They emerge according to their importance and how they shaped her. 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 ." Tan's work has been adapted into several different forms of media. The Joy Luck Club

5632-479: 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 . Tan lives near San Francisco in Sausalito , California, with her husband, Lou DeMattei (whom she married in 1974), in a house they designed "to feel open and airy, like

5720-405: The relationship between an immigrant Chinese mother and her American-born daughter. On its writing inspiration, Tan explained, "My mother said, when I started The Kitchen God '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. Tan, later, referred to this book as

5808-537: The relationships between sisters, inspired, partly, by one of the half-siblings Tan sponsored to the United States. Tan's fourth novel, The Bonesetter's Daughter , returns to the theme of an immigrant Chinese woman and her American-born daughter. In 2024, Tan published The Backyard Bird Chronicles , her illustrated account of birding as a coping mechanism during the divisive 2016 US Presidential election. 4th Estate published Tan's memoir, in October 2017. The book cover

5896-556: The same to her previous husband, Marvin Chen, with whom she has a daughter, Shoshana. After a disastrous attempt at a dinner party to tell her mother of their wedding, Waverly confronts her mother the morning afterwards and realizes that her mother has known all along about her relationship with Rich and has accepted him. Rose Hsu Jordan learns that Ted intends to marry someone else after divorcing her. She realizes through her mother's advice that she needs to fight for her rights and refuses to sign

5984-656: The same year won the Carl Sandburg Literary Award . Tan also received the Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service for her contribution to world community. 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

6072-561: 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. 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

6160-464: The third concubine of Wu Tsing, a rich merchant, while An-Mei was raised by her maternal grandmother. Her mother returns only to cut off a piece of her flesh to cook a soup in hopes of healing An-Mei's grandmother, though An-Mei's grandmother still dies. Lindo Jong explains how in childhood she was forced into a loveless marriage and was pressured by her mother-in-law's desire for Lindo to produce grandchildren. Through her own ingenuity, Lindo fabricates

6248-400: The twins were adopted, but dies of a brain aneurysm before she can meet them. It is her American-born daughter Jing-mei who fulfills her long-cherished wish of reuniting with them. As Suyuan dies before the novel begins, her history is told by Jing-mei, based on her knowledge of her mother's stories, anecdotes from her father, and what the other members of the Joy Luck Club tell her. An-Mei

6336-415: 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). She attempted suicide but never succeeded. Daisy died in 1999 at

6424-576: The women ... are fully fleshed-out characters who are a remarkable improvement over the 'exotic Oriental' Cassandra from Wayne's World , the male characters are merely additions to the long list of negative images of Asian men in our culture." Novelist Nancy Willard , in a somewhat positive critique, said that "Amy Tan's special accomplishment in this novel is not her ability to show us how mothers and daughters hurt each other, but how they love and ultimately forgive each other." The act of losing individuality continues through multiple generations because

6512-567: The worst possible manner). Lena's family moves to North Beach from Oakland. Her mother, who seems restless, delivers an anencephalic child who dies at birth. In Lena's eyes, her mother becomes a 'living ghost'. The story of their neighbors and the relationship between the mother and the daughter of the neighboring household is also mentioned. Rose Hsu Jordan wishes to tell her mother that she plans to divorce her husband Ted. She reflects on their relationship. She then goes on to relate an incident in which her family (her parents and six siblings) go to

6600-516: The year of the Horse . When Lindo was only twelve, she was forced to move in with a neighbor's young son, Huang Tyan Yu, through the machinations of the village matchmaker. After some training for household duties through her in-laws, she and Tyan-yu married when she turned sixteen. She soon realized that her husband was a mere boy at heart and had no sexual interest in her. It is loosely implied that he might have been gay. Lindo began to care for her husband as

6688-507: Was actually fated to marry another girl who was already pregnant with his "spiritual child", and that her own marriage to him would only bring bad luck to the family. The girl she described as his destined wife was, in fact, a mere servant in the household, indeed pregnant but abandoned by her lover. Seeing this as an opportunity for her to be married and live comfortably, the servant girl cheerfully agreed with Lindo. Freed from her first marriage, Lindo decided to immigrate to America. She married

6776-465: Was adapted into a play, in 1993; that same year, director Wayne Wang adapted the book into a film . The Bonesetter's Daughter was adapted into an opera , in 2008. Tan's children's book, Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat , was adapted into an PBS animated television show, also named Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat . In May 2021, the documentary Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir was released in

6864-478: Was an infant. June regrets that she never learned the meaning of the pendant's name. She also confronts Suyuan with the belief that she had always been disappointed in June and admitted she could never live up to her high expectations. June believes that because she has never finished college, does not have a good career, and remains unmarried, she is seen as a failure in her mother's eyes. Suyuan eventually reveals her true meaning; that while Waverly has style, she lacks

6952-417: 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. When the paperback version came out, its hardcover had already undergone 27 printings, with sales of over 200,000 copies. By 1991, the book had already been translated into 17 languages. Tan's second novel, The Kitchen God's Wife , also focuses on

7040-476: Was born. Suyuan and Canning attempted to find Suyuan's daughters, and Canning assumed that Suyuan had given up hope. June, who has been asked to take her mother's place in the Joy Luck Club, learns from the other mothers that her half-sisters are alive. They ask that June go to China and meet her sisters, and tell them about Suyuan's death. The other three mothers relate the stories of their childhood. An-Mei Hsu's story relates how her mother left her family to become

7128-711: Was finally able to make peace with Suyuan. During the Second World War, Suyuan lives in the Republic of China while her husband at the time served as an officer in Chungking (Chongqing) . She starts the original Joy Luck Club with her three friends to cope with the War. There is little to eat, but they pretend it is a feast, and talk about their hopes for the future. On the day of the Japanese invasion , Suyuan leaves her house with nothing but

7216-552: Was never recovered. Rose marries a doctor, Ted Jordan, who loves her but also wants to spite his snooty, racist mother. After a malpractice suit, Ted has a mid-life crisis and decides to leave Rose. Rose confides in her mother and An-mei tells her the story of her own childhood. When Ted comes for the divorce papers, Rose finds her voice and tells him that he can't just throw her out of his life, comparing herself to his garden, once so beloved, now unkempt and full of weeds. An-Mei tells her that Ted has been cheating on her, which Rose thinks

7304-433: Was once a gifted chess champion, but quit after feeling that her mother was using her daughter's talent to show off, taking credit for Waverly's wins. Waverly does not necessarily understand the origin of her mother's comments or what context for which they are intended. Waverly is “unable to feel at home in… [her] relationship with [her] mother." She has a daughter, Shoshana, from her first marriage with Marvin Chen, and she

7392-458: Was released earlier in April. 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. 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

7480-399: 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 , although a story was rejected by

7568-527: Was the most prominent image on the poster for the film American Graffiti . Marsha and Wendy, carhops at Arnold's Drive-in, were recurring characters during the early seasons of the TV series Happy Days . The decline of the carhop was depicted in the film The Founder , where Ray Kroc (portrayed by Michael Keaton ) is complaining of a wrong order to one carhop at an unnamed drive-in, who ignores his grievance and skates off to flirt with nonpaying customers. Later in

7656-465: 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. Amy was born in Oakland, California . 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

7744-612: Was written by the author Amy Tan along with Ronald Bass . The novel was also adapted into a play, by Susan Kim, which premiered at Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in New York. The Joy Luck Club consists of sixteen interlocking stories about the lives of four Chinese immigrant mothers and their four American-born daughters. In 1949, the four mothers meet at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco and agree to continue to meet to play mahjong. They call their mahjong group

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