The Backyard Bird Chronicles

by Amy Tan

We show each other what we’ve seen or found, and our questions spiral out. She embodies what Jack describes as “intentional curiosity,” what leads us to deep observation and wonderment. Questions that beget more questions are the fertile spores that can lead you deeper into the forest.

A novel is torment. It needs structure, tending of language, constant shaping, refinement, excision, and cumulative insights that might give it breath and breadth. I have to carry a thousand pieces in an increasingly complex configuration toward the luminous vision of a story that remains a mirage. I am driven to make each piece as perfect as I hope it can be, while making the story that is composed of those pieces feel spontaneous, effortless, and without gyre and gimble showing at the seams.