Amy Tan Was Born February 19, 1952 in Oakland, California

Amy Tan was born February 19, 1952 in Oakland, California. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, graduated from high school in Montreux, Switzerland, and received

her master's degree in Linguistics from San Jose State University.

Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. For her first book, The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan won The National Book Award and the L.A. Times Book Award in 1989.

She has been married for the past twenty-some years to Lou DeMattei. They live in San Francisco and New York with their little dogs, Yorkshire terriers Bubba and Lilli.
Amy Tan enjoys hiking, which is probably how she contracted Lyme disease in 1999. For a long time, it was debilitating, hindering her ability to write, and to tour with the literary garage band, Rock Bottom Remainders, of which she is a key member, belting out rock tunes in daring costumes, alongside other American writers, such as Stephen King and Dave Barry. Nothing can keep Amy Tan down for long, though, and she has avidly sought to bring better awareness of Lyme disease, as well as supported efforts for more research, and helped found LymeAid 4 Kids.
To find out more about Amy Tan, the fascinating person behind the books, I recommend reading her wonderful book of autobiographical essays, The Opposite of Fate.

Official Sites

Amy Tan's Own Web Site
Steven Barclay Agency - Amy Tan's Exclusive Lecture Agency
The Rock Bottom Remainders

Biographical

Amy Tan Biography - Steven Barclay Agency
Amy Tan Biography - Literary Encyclopedia
Amy Tan Biography - Academy of Achievement
Amy Tan - Voices Fom the Gaps
Amy Tan with her late mother, Daisy
Amy Tan named literary editor of new L.A. Times magazine (1-2006)
"The Joys and Sorrows of Amy Tan" in Time Magazine (2001)
Amy Tan Audio Lecture at MSU (1997)
Interviews

The Guardian Interview about Saving Fish from Drowning (2005)
1-Hour Amy Tan Video on Saving Fish from Drowning (11-2006) - Book Passage
Amy Tan Audio Interview on The Bonesetter's Daughter - Bill Thompson
Amy Tan Audio Interview on "The Opposite of Fate" - NPR
Amy Tan Interview w/video clips - Academy of Achievement
Amy Tan Interview (12/1995) - Salon
Amy Tan Interview (12/1995) - Gretchen Giles
New York Times Interview by Sarah Lyall (12/1995)
New York Times Interview by Mervyn Rothstein (6/1991)
New York Times Interview by Julie Lew (7/1989)
Audio Interview with Don Swaim (1989) - Wired for Books
Relationship with mother helped Tan hone writing skills - D. Longenecker / UB Reporter
Bibliographical

Selected Bibliography - Paul P. Reuben
Miscellaneous

Featured Author: Amy Tan - NY Times, 2-18-2001
Author Profile: Amy Tan - Bookreporter.com
"Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat" on PBS Kids
Amy Tan Trivia Quiz - Authors on the Web
Video: Amy Tan and the Rock Bottom Remainders at UCLA Bookfair (2003)

Books, Reviews, Study Resources

The Joy Luck Club (1989)
Purchase this book at Amazon.com
Summary of The Joy Luck Club - Literary Encyclopedia
The Joy Luck Club: Overview - Lilia Melani
Excerpt from The Joy Luck Club: "Jing-Mei Woo"
Excerpt: "Feathers from a Thousand Li Away" in English and Chinese
Excerpt from The Joy Luck Club: "Two Kinds"
Review of The Joy Luck Club - NY Times (1989)
Review of The Joy Luck Club - Time Magazine (1989)
The Joy Luck Club Teacher's Guide - Random House
A Study Guide to The Joy Luck Club - The Big Read
Courage in The Joy Luck Club - Hannah Kim
"All My Good Intentions" Chinese Mothers and their American Daughters in
Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club - Anna Blight
Feng Shui, Astrology, and the Five Elements: Traditional Chinese
Belief in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club - Patricia L. Hamilton
Discovering the ethnic name and the genealogical tie
in The Joy Luck Club - Zenobia Mistri
Memory and the ethnic self: reading Amy Tan's 'The Joy Luck Club' - Ben Xu

The Kitchen God's Wife (1991)
Purchase this book at Amazon.com
Summary of The Kitchen God's Wife - Literary Encyclopedia
Excerpt from The Kitchen God's Wife - Amazon.com
Review of The Kitchen God's Wife - NY Times (1991)
Review of The Kitchen God's Wife - Time Magazine (1991)
SparkNotes for The Kitchen God's Wife
PhD Dissertation: "Mothering Modes: Analyzing Mother Roles in Novels
by Twentieth-Century United States Women Writers - P. W. McDaniels [.pdf]
"Representing history in Amy Tan's The Kitchen God's Wife" - Bella Adams

The Hundred Secret Senses (1995)
Purchase this book at Amazon.com
Synopsis of The Hundred Secret Senses - Literary Encyclopedia
Excerpt from The Hundred Secret Senses
Review of The Hundred Secret Senses - NY Times (1995)
"Chinese and Dogs" in Amy Tan's The Hundred Secret Senses:
Ethnicizing the Primitive a la New Age - Sheng-mei Ma
Cultural translation and the exorcist: a reading of
Kingston's and Tan's ghost stories - Ken-fang Lee

The Bonesetter's Daughter (2001)
Purchase this book at Amazon.com
Summary of The Bonesetter's Daughter - Literary Encyclopedia
Amy Tan Audio Interview on The Bonesetter's Daughter - Bill Thompson
Chapter 1 from "The Bonesetter's Daughter" - NY Times
Excerpt from "The Bonesetter's Daughter" - RandomHouse
Review of "The Bonesetter's Daughter" - NY Times, 2-18-2001
Discussion Questions for "The Bonesetter's Daughter" - Penguin Group
Excavating Memory, Reconstructing Legacy - Carol Cujec

The Opposite of Fate (2003)
Purchase this book at Amazon.com
Summary of The Opposite of Fate - Literary Encyclopedia
Excerpt: "Mother Tongue"
Excerpt: "The Cliff's Notes Version of My Life"
Collection of Reviews - ReviewsOfBooks.com
Interview with Amy Tan - Jay MacDonald, BookPage 11-2003
Audio Interview about "Fate" - NPR, 11-9, 2003
Amy Tan: Reaching a Universal Audience - Shelley Thompson

Saving Fish from Drowning (2005)
Purchase this book at Amazon.com
Excerpt from "Saving Fish from Drowning"
Collection of Reviews - Metacritic.com
USA Today Review of Saving Fish from Drowning (2005)
"Hostage To Fortune" in Time Europe (2005)
Video: Amy Tan on "Today" Show - 10-19-2005
Audio Interview about "Saving Fish" - NPR, 11-20, 2005

Bibliography:

1989 — The Joy Luck Club
1991 — The Kitchen God's Wife
1995 — The Hundred Secret Senses
2001 — The Bonesetter's Daughter
2003 — The Opposite of Faith
2005 — Saving Fish from Drowning
For children:
1992 — The Moon Lady
1994 — The Chinese Siamese Cat