Amy Tan’s Saving Fish from Drowning is intriguing at most and hard to follow at worst. Tan, within her novel, creates a story which incorporates many elements of mystery; the characters are placed within a series of events that are not fully explained or realized till the end of the novel. The ability to keep the reader guessing is something I appreciate and hope to bring to my own writing as even within poetry, explaining everything (showing NOT telling) allows no realization or personal depth for a reader; the exact opposite of what the author is attempting to do. Tan’s work was able to keep the reader guessing with her amount of mystery bringing intrigue while still carrying interest until the end of the work. The only critique I feel necessary to bring is that Tan’s work was not easy to follow, or easy to understand while reading. It may be because I did not read Tan’s previous works, and this is just her typical writing style, or that her element of mystery clouded my vision while reading and I was unable to clue into key facts. No matter, I do feel that her work, though superb in tone, theme and intrigue, lacked focus in plot line.