Amy Tan has touched millions of readers with haunting and sympathetic novels of cultural complexity and profound empathy. With the same spirit and ...
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Jan 09, 2011
Jeana
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Reading this book is like sitting down to lunch with someone you hardly know and making a new friend. I happen to love Amy Tan's novels. I also like to read about writers and how they got their breaks. This memior/musings/essay book held a lot of the magic that is found in Joy Luck Club/Kitchen God's Wife with a lot of reality and the daily suffering of a writer.
I particularly enjoyed reading about Tan's mother (but of course it's the crazy/hard-lifed mothers that make Joy Luck an More...
I particularly enjoyed reading about Tan's mother (but of course it's the crazy/hard-lifed mothers that make Joy Luck an More...
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Jan 09, 2011
Eileen
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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 would dicta 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 would dicta More...
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Jan 09, 2011
Kandice
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I have read all of Tan's books, usually within days of release, and this was a great way to "get to know her better". You can guess at a lot of her personal life just by reading her books, with the exception of Saving Fish from Drowning: A Novel, but it was still interesting to see just what was real and what was fiction.
There was a lot of repetetiveness, but that was to be expected. It says right on the description that these are mostly personal essays and speeches written More...
There was a lot of repetetiveness, but that was to be expected. It says right on the description that these are mostly personal essays and speeches written More...
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Jan 09, 2011
Katey
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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 a 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 a More...
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Jan 09, 2011
Sundurra
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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 b 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 b More...
Jan 26, 2012
Michelle
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Amy Tan's obsession with reading and writing inspires me. I love getting an inside view of how writing fiction has transformed her. She describes the way good endings "quietly but perceptibly lifted themselves and me out of our skins," reminding me of the way everything looks different when the sun suddenly comes out, the transformation in a breath held and then exhaled. She writes the most intriguing interpretation of "voice" I have ever encountered: "The voice is not m
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Aug 08, 2011
SwensonBooks
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Reading Amy Tan's The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings warms the writer's soul. With the same exquisite writerly voice that characterizes her wonderful novels, Amy speaks to readers who write about the creative process. Her first book of non-fiction, it reveals the power of moral ambiguity in finding a focus for one's life work.
What disturbs you as a writer? What makes you uncomfortable? With what do you struggle with to make meaning of without resolution? This is where the writing More...
What disturbs you as a writer? What makes you uncomfortable? With what do you struggle with to make meaning of without resolution? This is where the writing More...
Feb 21, 2011
YingYing
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After reading her memoir and finding out that so much in her books was based on her life, I empathized with Tan even more. I especially loved the stories about her mother's dementia, as it shows the true connection between mother and daughter. The answer to "When will you be home?" is not a specific time and date, but "We're almost home, because we love you so so much and can't wait to see you."
Parts of the memoir were funny, parts were truly sad, but I also empathized More...
Parts of the memoir were funny, parts were truly sad, but I also empathized More...
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Feb 14, 2011
Andrea
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LOVED this! Amy Tan collects a number of essays, reflections, and speeches into an interesting glimpse into her life, her inspirations, and the process of writing. Long ago my friends came up with the idea that the absolute worst thing you could say to another human was “I hope your life is like an Amy Tan novel”. Having listened to this book (I’m loving audiobooks for my commute), I have to say “WOW. Apparently Amy Tan’s life *IS* like an Amy Tan novel”.
There was a lot of inte More...
There was a lot of inte More...
Jan 09, 2011
Lisa
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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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Jan 09, 2011
Kerstin
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I think to really appreciate this book you would have to be an Amy Tan fan and I have not read any of her fiction. A lot of the first half of the book felt a bit like reading someone's somewhat self-indulgent therapy notes. This book is basically a collection of essays that are thrown together in a scattered and redundant fashion. The last essay might explain this, as it reveals that Tan is suffering from Lyme Disease. This book definitely needed a better editor. That said, there were a few thin
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Apr 12, 2011
Catherine
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Three days in advance of a local lecture by Amy Tan I decided to read her nonfiction book (and shockingly finished it in two). This is not exactly a memoir; it is a collection of personal essays that have the effect of a non-linear memoir. Written at different points in time and for different purposes, there is a certain amount of repetition. I read most of her novels when they were first published, but skipped the last one because of my conviction that the plots of all are quite similar – appa
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Feb 01, 2011
Ruth
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interesting quotes
"… it's lonely to go through life with your heartaches. They are people who believe that they can find soe sort of redemption, if only their story is told to the world, if only the can get it off their chest."
I found this to be true when I initially read it. Sounds so simple, but true. Then later I read an article about the abundance of unnecessary memoirs. At the time I agreed with the person writing the article, but after re-reading this quote I More...
"… it's lonely to go through life with your heartaches. They are people who believe that they can find soe sort of redemption, if only their story is told to the world, if only the can get it off their chest."
I found this to be true when I initially read it. Sounds so simple, but true. Then later I read an article about the abundance of unnecessary memoirs. At the time I agreed with the person writing the article, but after re-reading this quote I More...
Jan 15, 2012
Jbernice51
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An interesting peek into Ms. Tan's world of writing, living, growing up Chinese-American; making a movie from a best-seller, etc. If you like anything Amy Tan has written thus far, you will enjoy taking an inside look at how she accomplishes her work, her muses, her beliefs, her experiences.
1/15/12 - I have now finished this book and it was a great journey. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know what it has been like for one very successful writer - the ups and downs, the More...
1/15/12 - I have now finished this book and it was a great journey. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know what it has been like for one very successful writer - the ups and downs, the More...
Jan 09, 2011
Sheila
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Good book – she writes a self-deprecating memoir. Her family history was very interesting.
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Jan 09, 2011
Shirley
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It has been a number of years since I read The Joy Luck Club. I wish I had reread it before reading The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings. This book allows the reader to see how some of Amy Tan's real-life experiences have influenced her tales of fiction. Amy Tan takes the reader on a voyage into the mind of a writer. In writing and giving speeches, instructors advise you to select topics of which you have knowledge. Amy Tan achieves a flawless blend of knowledge, research, and imagination.
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Jan 26, 2012
Gretchen
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This book is a way of getting to know Amy Tan. I enjoy her novels. She talks about her life, her family, her education and how these influenced her writing. I also found her feelings about being a writer and a reader interesting. I had to chuckle when she describes students writing about her and her works, assigning symbolism and intention where she had no such thoughts. As a Chinese American writer, some readers have expectations of her, based more on her Chinese heritage than her American nati
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Jan 09, 2011
Mike
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Brilliant as always, Amy Tan's incredibly candid insights made this a quick enjoyable read. Her usually fluid writing translated well into memoir form, and despite telling myself to consciously slow down and savor every morsel, I was done in two days. Finding out that her real life paralleled her fiction ('The Kitchen God's Wife' is essentially a memoir of her mom's early years in China) for me added a new depth and a new appreciation to her work. It gave the book a more genuine quality, and it
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Jan 09, 2011
Nancy
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I’ll admit it. I can be a bit of an Amy Tan fangirl. Ever since I first picked up The Joy Luck Club at fourteen, I’ve enjoyed her intensely readable writing style, depiction of mother-daughter relationships, memorable narrators, and faraway settings. I even found Saving Fish from Drowning, admittedly her weakest work, to have its own magic. As someone that tends to stay away from nonfiction and collections like The Opposite of Fate (Proof: I read only two collections of essays last year, that tw
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Jan 09, 2011
Janet
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What had started as subterfuge on my part grew into an epiphany. I began to so see how much I actually knew about my mother and myself. She was losing her mind, yes, but I was losing defenses built up and fortified from childhood. . . . It had been so simple to make my mother happy. All I had to do was say I appreciated her as my mother.- Amy Tan, from The Opposite of Fate
Several years ago, when I read Joy Luck Club, I began to understand my own mother a little bit better and discov More...
Jan 09, 2011
Susanhayeshotmail.com
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Really enjoyed this collection of essays, some of which overlap, covering many topics; relationships, forgiveness,fun, fear, fate and faith, ghosts, writing and reading. Some of my favorite bits:
"What had started as subterfuge on my part grew into an epiphany. I began to so see how much I actually knew about my mother and myself. She was losing her mind, yes, but I was losing defenses built up and fortified from childhood. . . . It had been so simple to make my mother happy. More...
"What had started as subterfuge on my part grew into an epiphany. I began to so see how much I actually knew about my mother and myself. She was losing her mind, yes, but I was losing defenses built up and fortified from childhood. . . . It had been so simple to make my mother happy. More...
Jan 09, 2011
Linda
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jan 09, 2011
Heather
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I loved this book. I've never really been one for reading memoirs or nonfiction, but reading this book was just as pleasurable as reading any of Amy Tan's novels. Her writing style was just as poetic, just as recognizable in the form and tone as any of the novels she's written which take place centuries and continents away from these stories.
This book is essentially Tan's explanation of how became a writer, how she found herself unexpectedly falling into author-hood, and how she co More...
This book is essentially Tan's explanation of how became a writer, how she found herself unexpectedly falling into author-hood, and how she co More...
Jan 09, 2011
Shelah
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I remember back in college learning about different kinds of literary criticism. We talked about biographical criticism, and my professor wrote it off, saying that it was hackneyed. But I'm regular reader of People magazine (even Star from time to time!) and I love knowing all of the interesting details about my favorite authors' lives. So Amy Tan's The Opposite of Fate was a treat in many ways; it's a collection of writings Tan has done over the last several decades about her own life, about wr
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Jan 09, 2011
Ndahdien
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Aq mengenal Amy Tan ketika aq lagi sebel dengan kuasa-NYA dalam membuat takdir, aq merasa DIA tidak adil, mengapa orang baik justru selalu dapat musibah, mengapa orang yang jahat tidak pernah mendapat teguran, mengapa mengapa dan mengapa lainnya yang membuatku muak dengan sebuah kata bernama "takdir".
"The Opposite of Fate" itu nama judul buku dengan nama pengarang yang enggak aq kenal, aq membayangkan penulisnya juga mengalami perasaan sama sepertiku, dan tanpa pik More...
"The Opposite of Fate" itu nama judul buku dengan nama pengarang yang enggak aq kenal, aq membayangkan penulisnya juga mengalami perasaan sama sepertiku, dan tanpa pik More...
Jan 09, 2011
Amber
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The book is a series of essays/stories throughout her life and about her life and writing. Although the book is extremely well written and has some interesting thoughts in it, I find Amy Tan a little full of herself and pretty pretentious when expressing her views on various subjects. There are also numerous times when she repeats stories (although this is probably because she writes the book in essay style which I didn't particularly care for). Here's a good example of a statement I found ridic
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Jan 09, 2011
Diane
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I like books about the writing process and this is a good one. It was also a needed respite from the spate of books involving terribly repressed, oppressed and depressed women. The book is a collection of musings, talks, diary entries and essays written by Tan over a number of years - many have been published in various magazines (oddly a lot of them in Ski Magazine). I liked the juxtaposition of the short pieces and longer pieces. I enjoyed her sense of humor. I really liked her thoughts on lan
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Jan 09, 2011
Jessica
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I was going through Amy Tan withdrawls when this book was published. I couldn't understand why she wasn't publishing books anymore, and it was all very discouraging.
She answered that question in this book, of course, but this is so much more than just "I had to stop writing for a while because..." Her musings, her memories, her ideas - they were all poured into this book for her fans.
I admit it, I harbor a secret hope that one day when I'm walking through San Fr More...
She answered that question in this book, of course, but this is so much more than just "I had to stop writing for a while because..." Her musings, her memories, her ideas - they were all poured into this book for her fans.
I admit it, I harbor a secret hope that one day when I'm walking through San Fr More...
Jan 09, 2011
Margaret
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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 had PT
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Jan 09, 2011
Jan
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Amy Tan begins The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings, a collection of essays that spans her literary career, on a humorous note; she is troubled that her life and novels have become the subject of a "Cliff's Notes" abridgement. Reading the little yellow booklet, she discovers that her work is seen as complex and rich with symbolism. However, Tan assures her readers that she has no lofty, literary intentions in writing her novels--she writes for herself, and insists that the recurrin
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