3 things I learned
- Amy Tan has struggled through a lot of death in the immediate family. Both her father and brother tragically fell victim to brain cancer and both died within a year of each other when Tan was only 14/15.
- Amy Tan was originally studying pre-med at college before realizing her true passion of writing and switching majors. She accumulated more than 160 credits during her 4 years when she only needed 120.
- Amy Tan was originally timorous going into fiction writing. She originally set fiction writing as a side goal, something to accomplish by the time she retired. She had no clue going into it that she would be primarily known for her fiction writing.
2 things I need clarification on
- She never described why she decided to start out in the medical field if she's always liked reading/writing. Was it fully her choice? Did she feel as though specializing in the humanities/arts wouldn't be able to sustain her?
- As far as her novels go, I've always wondered if all of her books are about the Chinese individual... I mean, it would make sense, and it's her niche, I've just always been curious as to whether she's strayed away from this over-arching theme
1 question
- How much would Amy Tan say that her time alone with just her mother following her father and brother's death influenced her writing? The theme of "Daughter and Mother: China" is heavily prevalent in The Joy Luck Club and to the extent of my knowledge, her other works too. Not something I'd particularly ask her but something that has made me curious.
Arta, great post. I really wonder, too, about why she started out in the medical field before becoming a writer! Fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI also think it's a great question about the role of culture in writing. Abby mentioned that in her post on the African writers' panel, too. If you become known only as a "cultural" writer, do you get pigeonholed?