Contemporary American woman writer, whose works explore mother-daughter relationships and what it means to grow up as a first generation Asian American. Her most popular fiction work, The Joy Luck Club, became a blockbuster movie.

Short Biography

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Amy Tan (Chinese: 譚恩美; pinyin: Tán Ēnměi), an American writer, was born February 19, 1952 in Oakland, California several years after her parents emigrated to the U.S. from China. Citing her mother as "her inspiration," Tan explores the clash of traditional Chinese and American cultures in much of her work.

Tan is best known for her novel The Joy Luck Club, which later became a feature film. (Tan authored the screenplay.) Critics say that the book The Joy Luck Club is a novel but to Tan it is a collection of short stories. She has written several other books, including The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses and The Bonesetter's Daughter, and a collection of non-fiction essays entitled A Book of Musings. Her newest book Saving Fish From Drowning, explores the tribulations experienced by a group of people who disappear while on an art expedition into the jungles of Burma. In addition, she has written two children's books The Moon Lady (1992) and The Chinese Siamese Cat (1994). She has appeared in a short spot on PBS encouraging children to write.

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