book data
1093 ratings, 3.84 average rating, 148 reviews
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published
July 5th 2004
by HarperPerennial
binding
Paperback, 398 pages
isbn
0007170408
(isbn13: 9780007170401)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1510)
Read in November, 2008
I just read it because my mother recommended it to me. This book is clearly written for the author's fans. Since I had no idea who she was, I found it quite self exalting.
The author describes her life and the events that inspired her novels, which were inspired by her mother and grandmother's struggles in China.
A recurring topic throughout the book is the minority issues of being a chinese american and how she has been influenced by both cultures. Another important aspect of the book has ...more
The author describes her life and the events that inspired her novels, which were inspired by her mother and grandmother's struggles in China.
A recurring topic throughout the book is the minority issues of being a chinese american and how she has been influenced by both cultures. Another important aspect of the book has ...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
writers
I highly recommend this book to all writers as well as those interested in the “evolution” of a writer. I truly enjoyed Amy Tan’s honest and insightful account of her “journey,” told through a series of essays and autobiographical sketches.
I especially appreciated Tan’s essay, “Required Reading and Other Dangerous Subjects,” in which she rejects the widespread belief that writers come in colors – and those colors do not mix and match. It is a biting critique of those who w...more
I especially appreciated Tan’s essay, “Required Reading and Other Dangerous Subjects,” in which she rejects the widespread belief that writers come in colors – and those colors do not mix and match. It is a biting critique of those who w...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Lisa by:
merecommends it for: chinese-american, writers
I really enjoyed this book. It was so different from the books I normally read. Amy Tan has led an interesting life! It was a little slow 3/4 of the way through, but I enjoyed reading about her life and relationship with her mother. Seeking the "American Dream" and the chinese culture of honoring and obeying your parents are so polar opposite. It's understandable that first generation kids grow up very confused.
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Read in November, 2008
I am intrigued by reading of other author's writing process. Amy Tan has a wonderful witty sense of humor and I wish it could rub off on me. Despite the tragedies of her families' past, she finds joy and miracles in life. With determination to tell their stories and despite the influences of fame and misinterpretations of her life and work, she continues to follow her heart. I respect her even more after hearing how she has responded to her success as a writer. In fact, now i want to re-read Th...more
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Amy Tan’s book “The Opposite of Fate.” The book (she calls musings) is a collection of essays, speeches, and articles (one dating back to when she was 7 years old and others written for this book). For me, the most powerful piece was the last one. The author describes a mysterious illness that involved thinning hair, raid heart rate, palpitations, stiff muscles, joint pain, insomnia, hallucinations, fatigue, etc. Multiple physical tests all came up negative. The doctors suggested that she ...more
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recommends it for:
anyone, but particularly Amy Tan fans
This book was a pleasure to read. I don't know whether it could technically be called a memoir; it's basically a collection of mostly autobiographical essays and musings. Whatever its classification, these essays were well-written (no surprise there), interesting, provocative, and often funny. Amy Tan had just the right degree of self-deprecating humor so that she came across as refreshingly humble but not neurotic -- someone I would probably enjoy being friends with, as opposed to many other...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
nosey, lost, inspiration-seeking individuals like me
Again, did this one as an audiobook........... I truly enjoyed listening to this book. It is narrated by Tan herself, which is a bonus, and her imitation of her mother's Chinese voice and accent in comparison to her own accent-free "American" voice, was so interesting to me. But I digress..........
This book is full of humor as Tan looks at her career and life but it is fully of heart-wrenching moments of truth: whether moments of actual circumstance or moments of emotional realizat...more
This book is full of humor as Tan looks at her career and life but it is fully of heart-wrenching moments of truth: whether moments of actual circumstance or moments of emotional realizat...more
Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
any woman, or man
I learned, that family, no matter how bizarre we think they are, ther is always one up on us, and to learn to know your body, doctors can't tell you how you feel, only you can try to let them know, I had a simular thing(medical) happen to me, and for 3 months in pain, the doctors all said heart, I knew it wasn't, it was abdominal, long story short, 4 1/2' of intestine had wrapped around it's self and was killing it & me in the process. All worked out, I'm well..if you can call it that, I fee...more
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Read in January, 2006
During the 1980s, I admit I jumped on the Asian-Americans-Who-Hate-Amy-Tan bandwagon.
But after reading her memoir, I hold her less accountable to the Asian American writer standard. Why should she represent? Her job as a writer is to tell a good story with believable characters. Her books reflect her specific experience as a daughter of Chinese immigrants. It's not under her control how the public including book critics, place her books within the American canon. It's not her fault how publ...more
But after reading her memoir, I hold her less accountable to the Asian American writer standard. Why should she represent? Her job as a writer is to tell a good story with believable characters. Her books reflect her specific experience as a daughter of Chinese immigrants. It's not under her control how the public including book critics, place her books within the American canon. It's not her fault how publ...more
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Read in June, 2008
Would recommend: Yes
I was under the impression that The Opposite of Fate was a cohesive memoir, but it's more of a collection of essays. That's not to say that I did not enjoy it, or that I did not receive a full sense of Amy Tan's life, but the pieces in this book are not designed to flow together, and there are some redundant, overlapping parts. That said, I enjoyed the book immensely. Amy Tan is one of my favorite authors of fiction, and her nonfiction voice is equally appealing...more
I was under the impression that The Opposite of Fate was a cohesive memoir, but it's more of a collection of essays. That's not to say that I did not enjoy it, or that I did not receive a full sense of Amy Tan's life, but the pieces in this book are not designed to flow together, and there are some redundant, overlapping parts. That said, I enjoyed the book immensely. Amy Tan is one of my favorite authors of fiction, and her nonfiction voice is equally appealing...more
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Amy Tan got out of the kitchen with this book. This memoir reflected back to me what it means to love words, reading and language. Also she spoke of conflict with her mother and gave me a mirror to see my relationship with my mother. Two of my favorite segments from this book read:
"The ironies and coincidences accumulated, played off one another, forced me to wonder and consider that everything that happens is neither grand plan nor random coincidence. It is a crazy quilt of love,...more
"The ironies and coincidences accumulated, played off one another, forced me to wonder and consider that everything that happens is neither grand plan nor random coincidence. It is a crazy quilt of love,...more
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"My mother believed in God's will for many years. It was if she had turned on a celestial faucet and goodness kept pouring out. She said it was faith that kept all these good things coming our way, only I thought she said 'fate,' because she couldn't pronounce that 'th' sound in 'faith.'
And later, I discovered that maybe it was fate all along, that faith was just an illusion that somehow you're in control. I found out the most *I* could have was hope, and with that I was not denying any p...more
And later, I discovered that maybe it was fate all along, that faith was just an illusion that somehow you're in control. I found out the most *I* could have was hope, and with that I was not denying any p...more
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Not only does Amy Tan use every word on the GRE word list, her writing is thoughtful, poignant, and sometimes hilarious. I grew to love her by reading this book.
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A sweet and bitter memoir by one of my favorite writers. I'm amazed by what she went through in her life and by how she turned her personal pain into great books.
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This book made me laugh, and was very tender at the same time. I loved how Tan played on the themes and ironies of "fate" and "faith," and her honest descriptions of live as an Asian-American. At times, I felt as if she had opened a window into my own life and write about me instead of herself. Most notably was the story about writing thank-you cards with her mother. I laughed for days over that one, and made my sister and mother read it too! Tan expertly captures that specia...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
Those interested in writers' memoirs
I've just read a couple of chapters but am finding Amy's accounts of her life riveting. Last night as I read, awareness of her style faded in the quest to find out what happened next. Granted I was tired, but with another book I would have crashed much earlier...
Later - I read this book over time as the chapters stand alone. There is some overlap, but not enough to annoy the reader. I found Tan to be a reliable honest narrator, willing to go to the mat with life in her search for her own tru...more
Later - I read this book over time as the chapters stand alone. There is some overlap, but not enough to annoy the reader. I found Tan to be a reliable honest narrator, willing to go to the mat with life in her search for her own tru...more
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Anyone who can relay her feelings about writing with as much clarity, insight, and humor as Amy Tan deserves five stars. I was amazed at how she's able to get at the core of her thoughts and feelings about the process of writing so eloquently. She's amazingly funny, too!
If you like Tan's work, if you're a writer, or if you just enjoy hearing thoughts about the creative process, read this book. I especially enjoyed it as I listened to it on CD, read by Tan herself. She is a delight, someone ...more
If you like Tan's work, if you're a writer, or if you just enjoy hearing thoughts about the creative process, read this book. I especially enjoyed it as I listened to it on CD, read by Tan herself. She is a delight, someone ...more
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Read in May, 2008
Turns out Amy Tan, in addition to being a great writer, is also a pretty hysterical gal...and is part of a rock band of authors called the Rock Bottom Remainders. One performance of "These Boots Were Made For Walkin'" resulted in the following:
"It's just not fair," Stephen King groused one night after the show. "Dave Barry got the whip jammed in his mouth two nights in a row! When's it going to be my turn?"
Needless to say, I loved this book. (It wasn't fu...more
"It's just not fair," Stephen King groused one night after the show. "Dave Barry got the whip jammed in his mouth two nights in a row! When's it going to be my turn?"
Needless to say, I loved this book. (It wasn't fu...more
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Read in June, 2008
I had heard of The Joy Luck Club, but I never read it or watched the movie, so-- go figure-- that I picked up Amy Tan's more or less biography about herself. I found Amy's writing delightful and poignant. Not only did I understand Amy's reason for writing the stories that she does, but I got to read about her relationship with her mother, which was extremely interesting. This book is a bunch of Amy's collective writings: diary entries, essays, interviews, and thoughts-- and all of it wort...more
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quotes from this book
"Thanks to my mother, I was raised to have a morbid imagination. When I was a child, she often talked about death as warning, as an unavoidable matter of fact. Little Debbie's mom down the block might say, 'Honey, look both ways before crossing the street.' My mother's version: 'You don't look, you get smash flat like sand dab.' (Sand dabs were the cheap fish we bought live in the market, distinguished in my mind by their two eyes affixed on one side of their woebegone cartoon faces.)
The warnings grew worse, depending on the danger at hand. Sex education, for example, consisted of the following advice: 'Don't ever let boy kiss you. You do, you can't stop. Then you have baby. You put baby in garbage can. Police find you, put you in jail, then you life over, better just kill yourself.'
<i>The CliffsNotes Version of My Life</i>"
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