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My review, as well as my other thoughts on reading, also can be found on my blog.Ostensibly about Tan's origins as a writer, Where the Past Begins examines many facets of the novelist's life and career: her earliest memories, her relationship to her parents, her musical tastes, her interest in linguistics, her revision process. Interspersed between the memoir's main pieces are impressionistic sketches excerpted from Tan's journal. In her introduction, Tan frames the book as a kind of "unintended...
This book could easily have been titled Where a Writer Begins. Of course, I prefer the actual title and subtitle much better. Tan is courageous in what she reveals about her past and her pinging, beautiful mind. She deeply delves into her past as she pursues her sense of self and what created the wonderful writer that she is. I was moved. I was in awe. And, I am grateful for her generosity.
I attended a talk by Amy Tan when she was promoting her first book. I enjoyed her talk and reading that book. I put her on my list of authors to follow. Since that time, I have read all her books and make a point of attending her talks whenever she is in my area.This book is a memoir of her life to-date. She traces her family history through photographs. Tan describes her skill of nature drawings and compares that creativity to her writing. She discusses her mother’s mental illness and its effec...
Love the novels of Amy Tan? Then you’ll love to read about her childhood and influences. Love reading books where writers discuss their craft? Then you’ll love learning about Tan’s process and how she brings memory into her work. She’s a wonderful writer, and it’s a delight to have a work of nonfiction from her. It’s a win for everyone, really.Backlist bump: The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy TanTune in to our weekly podcast dedicated to all things new books, All The Books: http://bookriot.com/lis...
I have been reading Amy Tan's novel since I was first introduced to The Joy Luck Club when I was in high school. At the time I lacked the life experience to thoroughly enjoy her work about complex mother and daughter relationships, so over the last year I have been rereading these intricate novels. After immersing myself in two of Tan's novels this year, it came as no surprise to me that I would want to read her new memoir Where the Past Begins as soon as it came out. While not Tan's usual ficti...
3.5 rounded up. This is described as a memoir of Any Tan's childhood and writing methods, but I think it's mostly a memoir of her mother and their relationship. Like Pat Conroy and his difficult love/hate connection with his violent father that infused all his books, the same thing appears to be true of Any Tan and her Chinese immigrant, mentally ill, difficult mother. All of her books contain elements of her mother's life, in an attempt to understand what made her tick. Certainly her childhood
I have enjoyed several of Amy Tan’s novels with their reflections on her Chinese heritage, on mother - daughter relationships. This is what prompted me to read her memoir which I hoped would be a look at her life, her family and the impact of these memories in her work. For the most part, this is what the book is , but it wasn't quite what I expected. It's a blend of thoughts on various things such as music and its impact on her writing , her self analysis of her creative process. While those se...
I think lots of people will like this book, but if you're a writer, reading this will be like reading the best and most ethical kind of pornography, or like eating the most delicious dessert you've had in a long time. Amy Tan makes me want to write and write and write and I could feel the impulse in my body as I read this, reminding me of just how physical writing can and its joys can be.
I am over my infatuation with Amy Tan's work.There are two things to know:I have read every Amy Tan book (including the non-fiction, Opposite of Fate) some of them twice! AndI don't put books down. I have literally only stopped reading 5 books over the past 5 years! And one of those books was Valley of Amazement. I just couldn't do it. So here I am, listening to her latest book, a memoir of sorts, with Amy Tan herself reading it...even she sounds bored much of the time!....and I am determined to...
I continue to vacillate between 3 and 5 stars on this one. It's another one of those reads that I just can't pin down. (Proust started this dilemma of indecision.) I've been a long-time fan of Amy Tan's novels, starting with The Joy Luck Club, and delighting in her works ever since, so I thought this would be a natural extension of my Tan-fandom. I'm not sure that I gained much, despite enjoying this. Sometimes, peeking behind the curtain doesn't reveal all that much. There is a sense, throughou...
I have been reading Amy Tan since I was a teenager. I still have hard copies of her books on my shelf. I was annoyed the other day when I realized that somehow my copy of "The Joy Luck Club" went missing and had to go out and purchase another copy. I have been waiting for weeks now to get this copy of her memoir from the library. I was initially pretty happy with the memoir, but it was a very hard read to get through."Where the Past Begins" I have to say does give you insight into some of Tan's
Stunning and a real privilege to read. Read my full review HERE .
I'm never good at reviewing nonfiction! This is not a book I would have chosen to read myself, despite having read and enjoyed Amy Tan's first two novels. But a friend of mine gave it to me, so I felt obligated to read it in a timely fashion. And I'm very glad I did. This is apparently a collection of essays that Amy Tan was "assigned" to do by her editor. So while they are loosely joined in a linear fashion as a memoir, they also range over a wide number of subjects. Because they are each sort-...
I reread Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club last year, and watched Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir a few months ago. I loved it and it reminded me that I want to read more by her. Apart from Saving Fish From Drowning which I read some years and may revisit as I work my way through her books, I've long considered her an author I love, but I haven't read as much of as I've meant to. I decided to start with this one, as an audiobook, because they used it throughout Unintended Memoir and I wanted to listen to i...
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. When I first learned that I had been approved for an ARC of Amy Tan’s new memoir, I was excited, as I’ve enjoyed quite a few of Amy’s books and count The Joy Luck Club as one of my favorites. Reading the summary, I understood going into it that this would be a memoir where Amy talks about many of the things that influenced her writing over the last 3 decades, with emphasis on her family’s history and her own cultural heritage, both of which have served as a basis for
I've read two of Amy Tan's novels, so I went into this book knowing why she's one of the most acclaimed writers alive today, but what really got me excited about embarking on it was the subject matter. It wasn't just for the insight to be gained from a master like her talking about her writing process; it was because the flap copy specifically said it was about delving into memory and how that shapes writing. That there's a connection between memory and writing may seem like an obvious point, bu...
Very disjointed and difficult to get interested in. I love Amy Tan, but this was disappointing.
My childhood with its topsy-turvy emotions has, in fact, been a reason to write. I can lay it squarely on the page and see what it was. I can understand it and see the patterns. My characters are witness to what I went through. In each story, we are untangling a knot in a huge matted mess. The work of undoing them one at a time is the most gratifying part of writing, but the mess will always be there. So, apparently Amy Tan was contractually obligated to provide her new editor, Daniel Halpern
It was comfortable to read the usual Amy Tan work. Everything revolved around her mother. What I didn't like was the collection of emails. I hope there will be another book or more.
I like crazy quilts: their unexpected directions and textures. However, I don't think you can put anything next to anything else and have it be equally good. Colors, textures and tones need to create an overall thematic theme. Compare this:SourceWith this:Source: Edna Force Davis, Fairfax county, Virginia, 1897.Fair or not, that's how I felt as I read Amy Tan's memoir, Where the Past Begins. Her pieces were often, but not always autobiographical. They ranged from very large and raw emotions, esp...