Amy Tan
- Amy Tan was born in 1952 in Oakland, California. Her parents were both immigrants from China.
- Her mother had come from China after fleeing an abusive marriage and was forced to leave behind three daughters in Shangai.
- She had fled on the last ship to leave Shangai after the communist takeover.
- Her father was electric engineer and Baptist minister. He had come to America to escape the Chinese civil war.
- Her parents wanted her to become a concert pianist or doctor.
- Here parents were disappointed when she decided to obtain a BA in English and become a writer.
- Tan and her mother did not speak for 6 months after she made this decision.
- Amy Tan has written many novels and short stories.
- Her most well know novel The Joy Luck Club was made into a motion picture (incorporates parts of Rules of the Game)
- Common themes in Tan’s stories are:
- The complex and often conflicting mother daughter relationship.
- The conflict that Chinese Americans experience being stuck in between their parent’s Chinese traditions and modern American living (freedom of choice).
