Amazon.com
Amy Tan, who has an unerring eye for relationships between mothers and daughters, especially Chinese-American, has departed from her well-known genre in Saving Fish From Drowning.She would be well advised to revisit that theme which she writes about so well.

The title of the book is derived from the practice of Myanmar fishermen who "scoop up the fish and bring them to shore.They say they are saving the fish from drowning.Unfortunately... the fish do not recover,"This kind of magical thinking or hypocrisy or mystical attitude or sheer stupidity is a fair metaphor for the entire book.It may be read as a satire, a political statement, a picaresque tale with several "picaros" or simply a story about a tour gone wrong.

Bibi Chen, San Francisco socialite and art vendor to the stars, plans to lead a trip for 12 friends: "My friends, those lovers of art, most of them rich, intelligent, and spoiled, would spend a week in China and arrive in Burma on Christmas Day."Unfortunately, Bibi dies, in very strange circumstances, before the tour begins.After wrangling about it, the group decides to go after all.The leader they choose is indecisive and epileptic, a dangerous combo.Bibi goes along as the disembodied voice-over.

Once in Myanmar, finally, they are noticed by a group of Karen tribesmen who decide that Rupert, the 15-year-old son of a bamboo grower is, in fact, Younger White Brother, or The Lord of the Nats.He can do card tricks and is carrying a Stephen King paperback.These are adjudged to be signs of his deity and ability to save them from marauding soldiers. The group is "kidnapped," although they think they are setting out for a Christmas Day surprise, and taken deep into the jungle where they languish, develop malaria, learn to eat slimy things and wait to be rescued. Nats are "believed to be the spirits of nature--the lake, the trees, the mountains, the snakes and birds.They were numberless ... They were everywhere, as were bad luck and the need to find reasons for it."Philosophy or cynicism?This elusive point of view is found throughout the novel--a bald statement is made and then Tan pulls her punches as if she is unwilling to make a statement that might set a more serious tone.

There are some goofy parts about Harry, the member of the group who is left behind, and his encounter with two newswomen from Global News Network, some slapstick sex scenes and a great deal of dog-loving dialogue. These all contribute to a novel that is silly but not really funny, could have an occasionally serious theme which suddenly disappears, and is about a group of stereotypical characters that it's hard to care about.It was time for Amy Tan to write another book; too bad this was it.--Valerie RyanBook Description
“A rollicking, adventure-filled story . . . packed [with] the human capacity for love.”
–USA Today

“A superbly executed, good-hearted farce that is part romance and part mystery . . . With Tan’s many talents on display, it’s her idiosyncratic wit and sly observations . . . that make this book pure pleasure.”
–San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco art patron Bibi Chen has planned a journey of the senses along the famed Burma Road for eleven lucky friends. But after her mysterious death, Bibi watches aghast from her ghostly perch as the travelers veer off her itinerary and embark on a trail paved with cultural gaffes and tribal curses, Buddhist illusions and romantic desires. On Christmas morning, the tourists cruise across a misty lake and disappear.

With picaresque characters and mesmerizing imagery, Saving Fish from Drowning gives us a voice as idiosyncratic, sharp, and affectionate as the mothers of The Joy Luck Club. Bibi is the observant eye of human nature–the witness of good intentions and bad outcomes, of desperate souls and those who wish to save them. In the end, Tan takes her readers to that place in their own heart where hope is found.


“Amy Tan is among our great storytellers.”
–The New York Times Book Review

“Amy Tan has created an almost magical adventure that, page by page, becomes a metaphor for human relationships.”
–Isabel Allende

“With humor, ruthlessness, and wild imagination, Tan has reaped [a] fantastic tale of human longings and (of course) their consequences.”
–Elle

“A book that’s easy to read and hard to forget.”
–Newsweek ... Read more

Customer Reviews (176)

The Story Gets Better
This tale gets more interesting as it goes along. After reading this novel , I wanted to go to Myanmar (Burma). I liked most of the characters in the story. Some of the tourists in the group I have met in my travels. The targedyof the Karen in the story was matter of factly dealt with by the author. Maybe that was done to show that the tourists in the story returned to their own lives and soon lost interest in the Karen. I gave this novel 3 stars but it really is 3 1/2 stars.

What a disappointment...
I really enjoy Amy Tan, but this was awful.Not at all like her other work.I guess Amy Tan is a one-note, but it's a good note.She should stick to that note, because this was not only her worst by far, but one of the worst books I've ever read.I just kept reading it because I've always loved every other book she's written.This plot was so far-fetched and it just kept getting farther.... The characters were so forgettable and impossible to relate to.There wasn't a sentimental one in the bunch.Too bad our talented Amy Tan spent so much time writting such a dud.

The audio version
I have never read an Amy Tan novel, so I had no idea what to expect from this one -- and I haven't finished listening to it.

My first comment is that this is not a novel that benefits from being read by the author.A professional reader would have done a far better job.As it is, many words are indistinct, and the flow, the tone, is too even.

Therefore, I found this very hard to get in to.The opening pages have little action -- it's all a dreamlike reverie -- not calculated to keep you alert if you are listening in the car hoping to be diverted and stay awake. I have come to rather enjoy the tale, though, and I may finish it.But by tape # 3, it is not exactly compelling. It's probably much more suited for a paper and print experience.

Not Amy's greatest
Out of Amy Tan's books, "Saving Fish from Drowning" is definitely not her greatest.The beginning has a promising start, with the mysterious death of the narrator, Bibi Chen.She then becomes a spirit watching over her twelve friends who decide to travel to China and Burma, a trip that Bibi plans for them before her death.Tan's writing is humorous throughout the novel, almost as if Bibi looks at her friends as naive children.What makes you want to keep turning the pages is the mystery of her friends' disappearances in Burma, which the narrator keeps referring to, and the mystery of her own death.

One of the big problems is that Tan goes too much into detail over unnecessary information (i.e. in how the news of the missing tourists spread to America) near the end of the book.It is a shame because Tan spends much of the beginning and middle building up a climax that later turns out to be disappointing.Another issue is that Tan attempts to tackle the descriptions of 12 characters. Unlike her other books, she can not go into depth about each character.In fact, most of the characters' thoughts are relatively shallow and superficial.

Overall, I thought this book had some good potentials, but the ending and part of the plot were its downfall.If this is the first time you've read Amy Tan's books, do not judge her writing based on this novel.Instead, you should base your impressions on "The Hundred Secret Senses", "The Joy Luck Club", "The Kitchen God's Wife", and various others of Tan's successes.

Excellent
I have never read an Amy Tan book I didn't like, and Saving Fish from Drowning is no different. In this novel, I was hooked from the beginning by the voice of the ghost telling the story. What an innovative way to tell such a story and so convincing. It works because she manages to expertly weave Chinese spirituality with an unusual, yet engaging story. So, of course a ghost would be telling the story. Highly Recommended. ... Read more

Book Description
The Hundred Secret Senses is an exultant novel about China and America, love and loyalty, the identities we invent and the true selves we discover along the way. Olivia Laguni is half-Chinese, but typically American in her uneasiness with her patchwork family. And no one in Olivia's family is more embarrassing to her than her half-sister, Kwan Li. For Kwan speaks mangled English, is cheerfully deaf to Olivia's sarcasm, and sees the dead with her "yin eyes."

Even as Olivia details the particulars of her decades-long grudge against her sister (who, among other things, is a source of infuriatingly good advice), Kwan Li is telling her own story, one that sweeps us into the splendor, squalor, and violence of Manchu China. And out of the friction between her narrators, Amy Tan creates a work that illuminates both the present and the past sweetly, sadly, hilariously, with searing and vivid prose.

"Truly magical...unforgettable...this novel...shimmer[s] with meaning."--San Diego Tribune

"The Hundred Secret Senses doesn't simply return to a world but burrows more deeply into it, following new trails to fresh revelations."--Newsweek ... Read more

Customer Reviews (202)

My all-time favorite - very original
I don't know how Amy Tam came up with this story, but I'm glad she did.It was worth reading more than once.Gives me much to think about.Things are not always as they seem.

Superb characterization
I've enjoyed all Amy Tan's books, but "The Hundred Secret Senses" kept me reading till dawn. The characterization alone is stunning...truly stunning.

Realistic or magical?
I love how I was kept guessing as to whether this book took place in a world where magic is possible or not.The main character doesn't WANT to believe in the supernatural, but it seems to creep into her life via her strange sister.How much of what happens is colored by her perception? What are we to believe? Beautifully crafted story.

Immensely Believable
Past meets present in this circular tale of spirituality.The Chinese culture is captivating and real.You'll feel like you're really there.

Touching and Beautiful
This book was great to read. I found it to be sad at times and very touching. Very much recommended. ... Read more

Book Description
"Tan is one of the prime storytellers writing fiction today."
NEWSWEEK
Winnie and Helen have kept each other's worst secrets for more than fifty years. Now, because she believes she is dying, Helen wants to expose everything. And Winnie angrily determines that she must be the one to tell her daughter, Pearl, about the past--including the terible truth even Helen does not know. And so begins Winnie's story of her life on a small island outside Shanghai in the 1920s, and other places in China during World War II, and traces the happy and desperate events tha led to Winnie's coming to America in 1949.
"The kind of novel that can be read and reread with enormous pleasure."
CHICAGO TRIBUNE ... Read more

Customer Reviews (160)

Beautifully written work by amy tan
I've read "The Kitchen God's Wife" three times, once as a newly married woman, once as a new mother, and now after having recently lost my father.Every time I read it, I see something new in it, something that mirrors my own life.

The theme of Tan's that always mirrors my life and to which I have such connection is that of Pearl's relationship with her mother. I so completely and painfully understand the resentments, the feeling of having to walk on eggshells every time she talks to her mother, trying to help my children understand my mother's heritage and dealing with my mother's hurt when they don't want to understand.

Many say that "The Joy Luck Club" is the best of Amy Tan's books, but I think it's "The Kitchen God's Wife." JLC is a masterpiece but TKGW for me has even more depth to it.

The Kitchen God's Wife
This is my third Amy Tan novel.I adore her stories, style and universality set in China and America.Though this book isn't as rich in metaphorical and symbolic language as "The Bonesetter's Daughter", I still found it an intriguing story.What comes to mind for me, is how clever Amy Tan uses Helen as a calalyst to help Winnie and her daughter communicate.In fact, it's a lie that brings about truth.So many mothers and daughters have the difficulties that beseige Winnie and Pearl.We see Winnie as someone who truly had become codependent from abuse.Her reactions crossed over to her daughter in such a way, that their relationship never really was intimate; however, at the end of the book, the imagery of the smoke going to heaven brought back the hope of not only overcoming the abuse and difficulty of codependency, but the fact that people can forgive and heal and love again and go from silence to openness.I loved the book for that very aspect.

As usual, Amy Tan has won me over
Not my favorite Amy Tan book, but certainly one that I thoroughly enjoyed.Tan works her magic weaving an interesting story that makes for wonderful reading.

Wonderful Book
Amy Tan is such a talented author and her talent is very apparent in The Kitchen God's Wife.From the time I started reading till the end, I couldn't put it down. Amy Tan teaches you so much about the Chinese culture and the hardships that many woman went through.I loved this book and plan on reading it again!

Hope above all,
A capturing tale of hardships, hope, and love, "The Kitchen God's Wife" is a worthwhile read. Novelist Amy Tan trails her readers behind WeiWei, Winnie Louie, as she relives the tortures of her youth to share them with her American-can born daughter. When her mother disappears and she is sent to live in an unwelcoming house with unfamiliar relatives, young Winnie thinks she will never again live a happy life. When a fluke presents her with a marriage proposal, she thinks her future husband is too good to be true. Before their marriage has even fully set in, Winnie realizes her joy is short lived as Wen Fu turns her world into a nightmare. Amy Tan's heart-rending rendition of a Chinese woman's struggle in a world where she has no authority, speaks to all people who have ever felt trapped of helpless. She paints a model for all people who have ever felt like victims through Winnie as she suffers an abusive husband, the death of her children, the chaos of war, and the turmoils of emotional uncertainty. This novel is a touching read because to all people who have ever felt pain and it sends them a message of strive, understanding, survival, and most of all, hope. ... Read more

Book Description
A MAGICAL NIGHT WHEN SECRET WISHES CAN COME TRUE

On a rainy afternoon, three sisters wish for the rain to stoop, wish they could play in the puddles, wish for something, anything, to do. So Ying-Ying, their grandmother, tells them a tale from long ago. On the night of the Moon Festival, when Ying-ying was a little girl, she encountered the Moon Lady, who grants the secret wishes of those who ask, and learned from her that the best wishes are those you can make come true yourself. This haunting tale, adapted from Amy Tan's best-seller The Joy Luck Club and enhanced by Gretchen Schields's rich, meticulously detailed art, is a book for all to treasure. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Beautiful Children's Book
Beautiful illustrations will entrance children of all ages as Amy Tan shows she can entertain both children and adults.

kids love it
Amy has shown she can captivate children as well as adults. Her illustrations are beautiful and wonderful and my 5 yr old daughter loved them as well. Wonderful story.

A Good Read At Any Age
In The Moon Lady, Amy Tan author of The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter's Daughter, presents a small tale for young children which adults will also enjoy.Focusing on a story set in China, Tan brings her wealth of knowledge about China and its folktales as well as her love for this country and its traditions. In addition, the illustrations by Gretchen Schields add a wonderful dimension to the story since readers can also visualize the tale by viewing these pictures.

On a rainy day as grandchildren whine that they can't play outside their grandmother tells them a tale based on her own experiences as a child.Using this method Tan provides an allegorical tale concerning children and their wishes.Telling the children of her wishes as a young girl, Ying Ying tells the children a story about her own wishes at the times of the Moon Festival.And as all folk tales provide, Tan is adept at providing her readers with an adventurous tale compete with the mysterious Moon Lady and a moral to the story.

This is a good book for young children who cannot only learn about the Chinese culture but the saying "Be careful what you wish for."I also recommend this book at any age since it is also important to remember this as we move on in life.

Read to Your Child to Develop Bonding and Intellect!
Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading andimproved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading,your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate betterto others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending timetogether watching television fails as a substitute.

To help otherparents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, ouryoungest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that wereread to her as a young child. The Moon Lady was one of her picks.

Adaptedfrom Amy Tan's best selling book, The Joy Luck Club, The Moon Lady is aperfect book for encouraging children to read with and talk to theirgrandmother.The book also very subtly encourages children to take moreresponsibility for their own lives.The story provides a model for parentsand grandparents for how to create their own stories to help children learnimportant lessons.

The story begins as three girls, Maggie, Lily andJune, are bored because they have to stay in on a rainy day and can thinkof nothing that they want to do.Their grandmother, Nai-nai, is with them. Nai-nai tells them a story about when she was a young girl in China, andshe ran and shouted and could not stand still also.

The story is aboutthe day she told the Moon Lady her secret wish.Then unfolds a wonderfulstory of a young girl's adventure on a special trip to see the Moon Lady. Along the way, she sees many things she has not seen before, fallsoverboard, is rescued by a fishing family, and finds her family again aftermeeting the Moon Lady.In the process, she has one of those epiphaniesthat make all of our lives better -- that she is in charge of creating herown future.

The story is filled with references to family bonding andwhat is and is not proper behavior.The story also shows what family lifewas like for a somewhat well-to-do Chinese family in China at the beginningof the 20th century.These references are made all the more realistic by awonderful series of drawings by Gretchen Schields with bright colors,beautiful detail, and authentic depictions of the China of years ago. It'salmost like living a beautiful dream.

Then Nai-nai takes hergranddaughters out to dance in the moon after the story is over.

Of allthe children's books I have read, I place this one in the top ten for the4-8 age category.

A central problem for many children today is that toomuch television, too many structured activities, and too little free timeleave them feeling lost when nothing is on the agenda.Our misconceptionis that they need regimented lives like those that soldiers lead to fulfilltheir potential.This book will encourage you to readdress thatmisconception, and focus on how to make your children more competent inthinking about others, being more independent, and designing their ownbeneficial activities.That is all very important to actually unleashingtheir full potential.When you are done, think about how perhaps your ownlife needs a little improvement along these same lines.

Enjoy!

DonaldMitchell (donmitch@2000percentsolution.com)

Magnificent illustrations...
I was drawn to this book as an Amy Tan fan and found myself fascinated by the illustrations.They are gorgeous and vividly detailed.The story, narrated by a grandmother, of her childhood adventures while growing up inChina will give kids a tantalizing glimpse of another time and place. ... Read more

Amazon.com
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 recurring patterns and themes that critics find in them are entirely their own making. This self-deprecating stance, coupled with Tan's own clarification of her intentions, makes The Opposite of Fate feel like an extended, private conversation with the author.

Tan manages to find grace and frequent comedy in her sometimes painful life, and she takes great pleasure in being a celebrity. "Midlife Confidential" brings readers on tour with Tan and the rest of the leather-clad writers' rock band, the Rock-Bottom Remainders. And "Angst and the Second Book" is a brutally honest, frequently hysterical reflection on Tan's self-conscious attempts to follow the success of The Joy Luck Club.

In a collection so diverse and spanning such a long period of time, inevitably some of the pieces feel dated or repetitious. Yet, Tan comes off as a remarkably humble and sane woman, and the book works well both to fill in her biography and to clarify the boundaries between her life and her fiction. In her final, title essay, Tan juxtaposes her personal struggles against a persistent disease with the nation's struggles against terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11. She declares her transformative, artistic power over tragedy, reflecting: "As a storyteller, I know that if I don't like the ending, I can write a better one."--Patrick O'Kelley Book Description
Amy Tan has touched millions of readers with haunting and sympathetic novels of cultural complexity and profound empathy. With the same spirit and humor that characterize her acclaimed novels, she now shares her insight into her own life and how she escaped the curses of her past to make a future of her own. She takes us on a journey from her childhood of tragedy and comedy to the present day and her arrival as one of the world’s best-loved novelists. Whether recalling arguments with her mother in suburban California or introducing us to the ghosts that inhabit her computer, The Opposite of Fate offers vivid portraits of choices, attitudes, charms, and luck in action—a refreshing antidote to the world-weariness and uncertainties we all face today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (48)

Amazing, amazed
I had no idea. I had no idea what a great writer she is, what an amazing person she is, how difficult her life has been. Now that I've read this book, I know. And I am inspired.

I highly recommend this book to any daughter, any Asian, any writer, and any person with an open mind/heart who wants to know a little bit more about an intriguing, challenging life.

tan again
so good I dont want to finish the book (2 pages each time I sit to read)

That rare book I can recommend to any would-be writer
The first Amy Tan book I read was THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE, and it blew me away. It did what a really fine literary novel ought to do, in my opinion: it spoke the truth about human beings. While I enjoyed Tan's use of her own Chinese American background to give the book its setting, and her sharing of her heritage with its characters, I took those things as judicious use of the oldest and best advice given to fiction writers: "Write what you know." I was surprised, therefore, to read in this memoir about Tan's amazement when she began hearing herself declared a "minority" writer. A "writer of color," and so on. With each of those labels came a heavy load of expectations, of responsibilities (as perceived by those applying the label) to which she must rise. What didn't surprise me one bit, though, was the resentment that followed Tan's initial consternation. Labels that seem perfectly logical, and therefore helpful, to someone else can be limiting and hurtful to the person slapped with them. To put it another way, being pigeonholed pinches. And attempting to live up to the expectations of readers, reviewers, etc. as one writes a second novel after producing a wildly successful first book has got to be the most creativity-stifling exercise in this world.



I remember something else about THE KITCHEN GOD'S WIFE. I'd never heard of Amy Tan when I happened to pick it up, scan it, and decide to take it home. I sought out THE JOY LUCK CLUB, therefore, only after getting to know Tan's writing from her second book; and although I enjoyed her first, I thought (and still think) that her second novel is better by far. What I loved about both books was the universality of their themes, and of the characters I met in their pages. I'm not Chinese American (I'm a Down East Yankee, thank you very much, with Maine coastal roots three centuries deep). But I recognized the women she wrote about just the same! And despite cultural differences, I also recognized their joys and their sorrows; their dilemmas, and the ways in which they resolved them.



People are people everywhere, and writing is something writers do in order to stay sane. That's what Tan's work tells me. Both her novels, and this memoir that will be joining Stephen King's ON WRITING as that rare book I can recommend to any would-be writer. "Read this first, and then decide whether or not you're really cut out for this life," I can say. "This writer tells it like it is, and you need to know what you're getting into."

I had no idea.
I finised this book several weeks ago and still can't get it out of my mind. That last chapter was brutal. This book was also responsible for me hunting down a copy of "The Best American Short Stories - 1999". Thanks Amy, I've read all your (adult) books and have enjoyed them all.

Serendipity in Essay Form
Tan gives the reader a glimpse into her life with this collection of essays covering everything from a China trip with her mother to a childhood crush. ... Read more

Amazon.com's Best of 2001
At the beginning of Amy Tan's fourth novel, two packets of papers written in Chinese calligraphy fall into the hands of Ruth Young. One bundle is titled Things I Know Are True and the other, Things I Must Not Forget. The author? That would be the protagonist's mother, LuLing, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. In these documents the elderly matriarch, born in China in 1916, has set down a record of her birth and family history, determined to keep the facts from vanishing as her mind deteriorates.

A San Francisco career woman who makes her living by ghostwriting self-help books, Ruth has little idea of her mother's past or true identity. What's more, their relationship has tended to be an angry one. Still, Ruth recognizes the onset of LuLing's decline--along with her own remorse over past rancor--and hires a translator to decipher the packets. She also resolves to "ask her mother to tell her about her life. For once, she would ask. She would listen. She would sit down and not be in a hurry or have anything else to do."

Framed at either end by Ruth's chapters, the central portion of The Bonesetter's Daughter takes place in China in the remote, mountainous region where anthropologists discovered Peking Man in the 1920s. Here superstition and tradition rule over a succession of tiny villages. And here LuLing grows up under the watchful eye of her hideously scarred nursemaid, Precious Auntie. As she makes clear, it's not an enviable setting:

I noticed the ripe stench of a pig pasture, the pockmarked land dug up by dragon-bone dream-seekers, the holes in the walls, the mud by the wells, the dustiness of the unpaved roads. I saw how all the women we passed, young and old, had the same bland face, sleepy eyes that were mirrors of their sleepy minds.

Customer Reviews (3)

Riveting!Much food for thought
This story was gave me much to ponder, had me in tears at times, and laughter at other times.I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.It's incredible to me that a person could create such an interesting, detailed story -- I'm in awe of Amy Tan!

Two stories
Amy Tan did it again. She manages to give us living inside old China and at the same time, the difficult relationship with her mother in modern times. It's not a fast moving book, but if you're interested in relationships and how the past affects the present,and appreciate good writing, there is much insight in the book. Any daughter with an aging mother can relate. The mother's story is a fascinating glimpse into a girl growing up in the former China.
From the author of The Winter Years of World War II

Wordy Amy Tan
Alright...I loved Joy Luck Club, I struggled through Kitchen God's Wife, but this was really really tough. I mean Ms. Tan is pretty wordy in this book. She goes on and on about Ruth, this disrespected self made victim. The psychology of this book in unreal. There is so much unexplained symbolism that your head is spinning trying to figure out where she is going with it. In my opion Ruth should not have been the focus of this story because frankly she is boring. I am reading this book as part of a a book club (my pick because I loved Joy Luck) but now the ladies in the club are sending me hate mail, because they can't get past the first few chapters (Some have described it as painful).

No disrespect to the greats but this ain't no joy luck (Sorry Amy Tan) ... Read more

Book Description
"Before you go out into the world," Ming Miao told her five kittens, "you must know the true story of your ancestors...."

And so begins the story of Sagwa of China, a mischievous, pearl white kitten. Sagwa lived in the House of the Foolish Magistrate, a greedy man who made up rules that helped only himself. One day, Sagwa fell into an inkwell and accidentally changed one of the Foolish Magistrate's rules. Little did Sagwa know she would alter the fate -- and the appearance -- of Chinese cats forever!

... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

ENDEARING FELINE WHIMSEY
A WONDERFULLY TOLD CAT-TAIL! THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE LOVELY AND APPROPRIATE TO THE PLAYFUL THEME OF THE BOOK.

A home run for a Chinese native and a cat lover!
This is a fantastic story. It sparks children and adults (I'm 53!) the imagination and creativity that will help make the world a more beautiful place. I hence started to write my own children's stories. Amy Tan is my inspiration, and I hope she becomes yours.

Sagwa
I am the mother of 2 boys and have little knowledge of "girl"books.I bought this book for 2 little girls ages 4 and 5. The parents of each girl said their daughters were thrilled with the book and asked that it be read to them twice the day the book arrived.I bought the book because I love Amy Tan's novels and assumed that a child's book would be just as engaging.Amy Tan's story and the beautiful illustrations did not let me down.

Siamese cat lovers....
The most exquisitely illustrated book I've ever owned! A fun, fictitious way to describe how white siamese kittens get their colors.
It's a bit long for a bed time story, but really fun! Kids ages 8 or 9 and up may be able to read it themselves, but the beginners may have a hard time.

Beautifully written and illustrated book!
I've read Amy Tan's "Joy Luck Club" and "Kitchen God's Wife" and had no idea that she's a wonderful children's author as well. I learned about this book from watching the same titled PBS series.The series is cute for kids, but the book is a wonderful story, rich in history and beautifully illustrated. Tan is a gifted writer that children and adults can appreciate. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Four mothers, four daughters, four families whose histories shift with the four winds depending on who's "saying" the stories. In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared unspeakable loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Rather than sink into tragedy, they choose to gather to raise their spirits and money. "To despair was to wish back for something already lost. Or to prolong what was already unbearable." Forty years later the stories and history continue.

With wit and sensitivity, Amy Tan examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between mothers and daughters. As each woman reveals her secrets, trying to unravel the truth about her life, the strings become more tangled, more entwined. Mothers boast or despair over daughters, and daughters roll their eyes even as they feel the inextricable tightening of their matriarchal ties. Tan is an astute storyteller, enticing readers to immerse themselves into these lives of complexity and mystery.Book Description
This widely acclaimed bestseller spans two countries and two generations, following a group of Chinese women who meet to play mah jong, invest money and tell the secret stories of their lives. They call their gathering the Joy Luck Club. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (434)

Disappointing and shallow
My first Amy Tan book and probably my last. Joy Luck Club is mostly fluff. This book offers little to the reader.

Writing style is not particularly good.
No interesting insights into Chinese Americans.
Nothing educational about China, the old country.
Not particaularly well researched.

There are lots of better books to read if you are interested in any of the above areas. Ha Jin, a Chinese American is an outstanding writer. You will learn a lot about China and be entertained. "Wild Swans" is an very educational non-fiction that reads like fiction. I recommend skipping this one and going for the better quality books.

Amy Tan has a gift with words.
I read this book a little over a year ago for my ap english 2 class. I really
liked how it displayed the Chinese culture and values. It is basically a book of mother-daughter relationships. There are four mothers and four daughters. The mothers are Chinese women who immigrated in the United States. The daughters are Chinese-American. It shows how people (like those in the United
States) tend to take their heritage for granted and just label themselves as Americans. When in reality your heritage will always be there and when you finally except wonderful relationships and things can come out of it.

thank you for your time,
Loran

Good novels bring inspirations to readers
I am a high school freshman in the United States. I was assigned to choose one of five novels and read it throughout this semester. This novel, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan was my first choice because the story is about Chinese culture plus Mandarin is my native language. I believed that I would enjoy reading something that relates to my culture and actually I did. It is different from other novels since the whole story is separated into different little stories and put in different orders. Each little story represents a mother and daughter's marriage or family conflict.
In my opinion, the conflicts are caused because of mothers' and daughters' generation gaps and growing backgrounds. The mothers grow up in China where has many traditions and rules to follow. However, the daughters who grow up in San Francisco can choose their lives and want to be what they want to be. This makes the mothers think their daughters have lacks of consideration about their own lives. Therefore, the mothers want to control their daughters' lives since they used to follow those rules which tell them to do all the things considerable.
This novel has magic because every time I read this novel I would compare the way mothers treat their daughter in the book and the way my mother treats me. I would also ask questions to my self by saying "Does this mother use the same way to treat her daughter as the way my mom treats me?" The answer can be varied. Some of them are yes and some of them are absolutely no. For example, the way Suyuan's mother tells her that it's too late to change the reality that she is her mother makes me think it can be the way my mother tells me. For the reasons that, this statement makes sense that it's impossible to change the reality of a blood relationship so I would also accept this very logical sense. However, Lindo's mother left her in a rich family in order to gain some respects back makes me think it is not the way my mother would ever done to me. Since my mother sacrifices a lot in order to raise me up and lets me receive the best education, she wouldn't want to destroy the bitter that she has eaten and pave that she has built for me. Therefore, I recommend this book for teenagers to read because it is an inspired book that can make adolescences to think about their lives and observe their surroundings

A Book Remembered After 13 Years
The Joy Luck Club had stayed with me all these years even when I examine my own personal life in the current time. I had read the book when I was in the seventh grade and had a remarkable teacher. She was Mrs. Lattimer (and yes, she was white), a Harvard graduate teaching at an impoverished neighborhood from where I used to grow up. Sometimes, I wondered why she never taught at one of the more prestige middle schools even right now. Still, it was a book that we middle school students had to read and analyze. The class was actually an advance seminar class. Even to this day, I am surprised that we middle school students got a chance to watch a rated "R" movie. It was a "never" to watch a rated "R" movie. The only movies that I can remember watching that were rated "R" were movies in my former AP english literature class-Othello (which actually contained nudity). It's funny because from what I recall, I had couple of friends from the regular classes and they have never seen a rated "R" movie shown in an educational setting. Perhaps being in a gifted class really did come with all the special privileges(even though I was never identified as "gifted"; I was recommended). It just seemed that every book my classmates and I read in AP english could never resist incorporating some kind of sexual element. Indeed, the literary works were very great. And of course, sex is also shown in this movie.

Besides the entertainment value of the movie and the book, as well as the complex relationships between the mothers and the daughters, it was certainly a movie about survival. Presently, as I sit in my comfortable room, I could only relate to the need to survive and live a fulfilling life, a life that is so wonderful and full of bliss. Life is about survival. The word "survival" will always vibrate and echoe inside my ears and in my mind. It is a word that summarizes the very essence of life. When you're child or an adolescent, it is about surviving through school. Once you graduate from high school, a new level of survival comes into play; and that is to make a living. Let's face it. Life really does center around making a living. We all need and want to live a life free from having to live a low standard of living like poverty and shortages of healthy food and crapy material possessions. Virtually everyone desires to have a career and be financially stable. In times where the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer, insecure feelings arise and stays in tact somewhere in our minds. The desire to be married to wonderful wife or husband, the desire to feel safe living in a dream home, the desire to not feel frieghtened when you are heavily sick, the desire to give your children and your grandchildren the best possible life, and the list can go on forever...-Indeed, let's face it, MONEY MAY NOT BE EVERYTHING, BUT IT IS CERTAINLY SOMETHING WE ALL STRIVE TO OBTAIN IN ITS VARIOUS FORMS. Money does have its value contrary to the popular belief that you hear about how money isn't everything or how money can't buy love. Like the feather of the swan-This feather may look like any other feather and seem worthless, but "it comes from a far away distance and contains all of my good intentions."

Mothers and Daughters
Any mother or daughter will love reading this collection of interwoven stories of family relationships.Some parts are graphic, but it makes for an important novel. ... Read more

Product Description
Library Edition. Unabridged. Read by Frances Cassidy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Good, but not GREAT
Generally, I am drawn to stories that expose me to cultures unlike my own.From that perspective alone, I found Tan's novel to be intriguing and genuine; the individual stories are rich in culture and language.I believe I would have enjoyed it more had the book been presented as a collection of short stories instead.The lack of continuity from chapter to chapter is what kept me from really connecting with this book.

I spent much of my reading time flipping back to earlier chapters to remind myself which daughter was born of which mother so that I could see how the mother's experiences and upbringing had an effect on her daughter's life.There were also a few mother/daughter story lines that I felt could have been explored more in depth and that's why I think presenting them as short stories would have been more effective.

This is the first of Tan's books that I have read, but I do intend to try another one!

Compelling Stories
This is another excellent book by Amy Tan.I had heard about it for years, but had never read it. I finally read it because I thought her book, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, was one of the best books I have ever read.I was not disappointed by this book.It inspired me to read another of her books, Dragon Bones, which I am currently reading.

I am impressed with the details that Amy Tan includes in her books, which make them better stories and more enjoyable to read.In this respect, she brings to mind Ha Jin and his book, Waiting, which is such a compelling novel that I read it twice in the same month.The little details about Chinese culture and emotions awaken the mind to another world, but one in which we find there are people just like ourselves.

Very Complicated And Often Tedious.
When I recieved my list of Summer 2007 reading assignments, I'll come right out admit that I chose to read Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club" for the simple reason that I actually heard of it. I went in not expecting much, and came out with my feelings confirmed.

I do understand that this book is often regarded as a classic, but I for the life of me can't say this book being anything more than merely average. Tracing the life of a group of Asian families whose head leader has passed on, leaving her daughter with the unpleasant task of filling her shoes, "The Joy Luck Club" deals with topics such as death, family, marriage, divorce and togetherness. All of which are intriguing at first, but ultimately amount to little.

The book overall lacks a cohesive flow. I found myself confused at many points in the book to the point where it was useless for me to even try to even pay attention to the book. Tan's writing style is also very simplistic, lacking any real originality and leaving very little to the imagination.

Overall, I can't for the life of me see why this book is as highly regarded as it is. Perhaps it's just not my type of book. Nonetheless, I am befuddled as to why it is a classic piece of literature.

Beyond Spectacular.
You know, it is funny, I have read Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter and The Hundred Secret Senses, adoring them both beyond words--why it took me this long to get to her first work is nothing short of inexcusable. Not unlike Louise Erdrich's first novel, Love Medicine, this debut of Tan's is absolutely spectacular (it boggles my mind that first time authors can produce such seemingly flawless, multi-voiced narratives). Given the fact that Amy Tan was so young when she wrote this book blows my mind simply because the wisdom and expertise inherent in her storytelling go far beyond her years. In fact, I think this is my new favorite Tan novel, and not only do I believe she is the best Chinese American novelist out there, but at the top of the list of all authors, period. True storytellers are few and far between. Tan straddles the line between academic literature and pleasure reading, which, unfortunately, is not often accomplished.
I have been a devoted student of literature for over six straight years now (specializing in American minority literatures), and the other day, I was talking with a fellow colleague and classmate about this book. When she told me, in her "yawny" way, that she felt it was boring, I realized for the first time, that regardless of "smarts," there are actually literature students out there without one iota of literary taste. What a shame.
This book is truly phenomenal and speaks volumes about what it means to be a woman, for better or worse. I cannot recommend this book, or this author enough.

Book Review for "The Joy Luck Club"
Each and everyday, our generation continues to expand its range of different ethnicities and backgrounds as more families immigrant to the U.S. What Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club proves to show is the universal yet distinctive everyday conflicts of ethnic parents raising American children.
In this novel, readers begin a journey with four Chinese mothers and daughters through series of storytelling-including all woman taking a flashback to their childhood or some previous memory.
Moreover, the novel extracts how the American lifestyle that is somewhat different to the lifestyle the mother's were accustomed to creates a gap between the mother and daughters. The Joy Luck Club itself is a club where one mother, Suyuan Woo, created with three other Chinese woman in order to save and collect money as a group and bring up the spirits through the hard times of WWII. After Suyuan dies, her daughter, Jing-mei, has to fill her spot in the club as she finds out more about her mother than ever before, for example, Jing-mei discover she has two half-sisters. This novel creates a character that is able to grow with the reader as she finds out more about her mother's life and ultimately her own life as well. The discoveries allow not only Jing-mei but the readers as well to leave the book with hope as a closer bond with her mother is formed. Jing-mei creates closure with her mother's death as the readers and Jing-mei herself learn the sacrifices and loyalties of all for mothers when raising their daughters.
Since the novel is divided into four major parts, in which the mothers speak out in the first section, readers never seized to boredom, for there is a new exciting adventure that begins as each mother and daughter tells their own story. Even though the structure contributes to grasping the readers attention, readers may find it hard to collect and remember all the stories together.

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Customer Reviews (4)

reader's opinion
I loved this book, i have read it about four times. I think that Amy Tan does a very good job of portraying the Asian American families in the United States.I related to this book a lot, those of you that havesimilar problems should read this book.Of course everyone has heard aboutthe movie, but i feel the book is a lot better.If you have heard of anyTan's other book "The Kitchen God's Wife", pick it up, itaddressing a lot of the same aspects as in "The JOy LUck Club."

i was forced to read this for my english class.
There are too many characters with similiar-sounding names...it is confusing.

This book is grossly overrated
The book provides a detailed description of the lives of eight Chinese-American women and the issues they have to face. However, by the end of first few sections the book becomes redundant with very predictableoutcomes. Certain details, such as jobs atfortune cookie factories, leadto a general impression of primitivity and lack of imagination. The storyitself tries to imitate conflicts and plots of a mature tragedy, but doesso rather poorly. The book may have been slightly more acceptable if itsprofusion of characters had been cut down to two. Other than for a requiredassignment this book does not add much to one's reading experience.

The Joy Luck Club's rave.
"The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan is a book about the lives and journey of four Chinese women (Suyuan Woo, An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-ying St. Clair) & their American-born daughts (Jing-mei "June" Woo, Rose Hsu Jordan, Waverly Jong, and Lena St. Clair).Capitivated in a series of shorts, are tales of the pre-1949 to today's modern times.The Joy Luck Club held it's statis as it was named for, hope and good fortune.As the next generation holds its' faith, it becomes something just a little more special, linking two generations together.. ... Read more

Book Description
Amy Tan has established a reputation as a major novelist of not only the Asian American experience but the universal experience of family relationships. With the publication of her first novel, The Joy Luck Club in 1988, which touched the hearts of millions of readers, Tan joined the ranks of major contemporary novelists. Adapting her brand of Chinese traditional talk story as a vehicle for exploring the lives of the mothers and daughters at the center of her novels, Tan allows readers to experience the lives of her characters from multiple perspectives in parallel and intersecting narratives. In this first full-length study of her work, E.D. Huntley explores the fictional worlds Tan has created in her three novels, The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, and The Hundred Secret Senses. A biographical chapter discusses the relationship of Tan with her own mother and its influence and that of her family on the subject matter of her novels. A chapter on Tan's literary heritage places her squarely in the tradition of Asian American literature. Each novel is discussed in a separate chapter and includes sections on plot development, character development, narrative structure, literary devices, setting, and major themes. Each chapter also includes an alternative critical reading from which to approach the novel to help readers see the novel in a different light. A complete bibliography of Tan's writings, writings about her work, and a list of reviews of each novel completes the work. This study is the ideal guide for students and readers of Tan's novels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good Reference
This book is highly useful for use as a reference to the style, complexities, and the method of Tan's writing.I found it especially useful after completeling three of Tan's novels and having to present to a classroom, the style, symbols, characteristics in which Tan uses. ... Read more

Product Description
Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly Tan's (The Joy Luck Club) mesmerizing second novel, again a story that a Chinese emigre mother tells her daughter, received a PW boxed review, spent 18 weeks on PW 's hardcover bestseller list and was a Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection in cloth. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to the Paperback edition. Product Description: "Tan is one of the prime storytellers writing fiction today." NEWSWEEK Winnie and Helen have kept each other's worst secrets for more than fifty years. Now, because she believes she is dying, Helen wants to expose everything. And Winnie angrily determines that she must be the one to tell her daughter, Pearl, about the past--including the terible truth even Helen does not know. And so begins Winnie's story of her life on a small island outside Shanghai in the 1920s, and other places in China during World War II, and traces the happy and desperate events tha led to Winnie's coming to America in 1949. "The kind of novel that can be read and reread with enormous pleasure." CHICAGO TRIBUNE ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Shades of Pearl S. Buck
Well written story and well rounded characters. The mother-daughter angst is perfectly portrayed.The depth of emotions is subtle as it seeps through the innocence of a young Chinese woman growing up and living though severe hardship and worn torn Asia in the mid 1900's up to modern times. Her spirit survived horrific times and relationships. Perhapts one too many crises for the reader to deal with. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Living the dream...sort of
While the main reason I bought this book was to add to my Stephen King colection, I enjoyed the other essays about the experence.It's well written and entertaining and there were suprising stories of how the experence changed the various authors lives.

Hilarious good fun!
Although I vaguely noted the news stories when this band of idiots went on the road in 1993, I only ran across this book by chance three days ago. I read it in less than two. Although the whole idea of authors forming a rock band and doing a tour sounds pretty stupid and self-indulgent, the results were not only good for them, but surprisingly moving and inspiring foranyone who might read this book.I'm sure I enjoyed it no less than thetwo previous reviewers, but I'm a tough grader, so I gave it fourstars.

I always knew Stephen King and Dave Barry were regular guys Iwould just love to meet and have a beer with, but what a shock to find outabout the lovely, funny, human sides of Amy Tan, Barbara Kingsolver, AlKooper (the musical director of this motley crew), Dave Marsh (rock criticand editor) and others!

I laughed 'til I cried over Barry's chapter.Everyone has his or her funny moments, but the chapters by Tan, Kingsolver,and Marsh are refreshingly touching and vulnerable, too.

Bestquotes:

--King calls himself "a kind of Norman Rockwell version ofFreddy Krueger"

--Kooper: "The mere fact that you're readingthis right now is a testimony to the selfishness of twenty-three boredpeople."

--Roy Blount, Jr.: being on stage in a rock and roll bandis "like being inside a forest fire that you're helping, howevermodestly, to spread"

--music critic Joel Selvin: "Most peopleseem to think critics are as useful as tits on a priest."

--Barry:"Our groupie budget is kinda low, so we're not getting top quality --at times, they get a little angry at us and throw their walkers at us andstuff like that."

--Barry again: "...you can imagine howexcited I was when I discovered Buddy Holly. Here was a guy who had glassesat least as flagrant as mine; a guy who did NOT look like a teenheartthrob, but more like the president of the Audiovisual Club, the kidwho always ran the projector for educational films with titles like _TheStory of Meat_."

--Tabitha King: "Greil Marcus informed meSoutherners think the (...) they call coffee iscoffee."

--Kingsolver: "...we all knew no amount of rehearsalcould ever make us into a first-rate, or even cut-rate, or irate, orreprobate, rock and roll band."

There are tons of photos, black andwhite AND color (the ones of Tan in her black leather, chains, and whip for"These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" and of Marsh in a white promdress, spattered with ketchup and armed with a plastic knife to attackStephen King during his showstopping rendition of "Teen Angel"are priceless), all shot by Tabitha King.

The book ends on a weak note:Ms. King is neither the writer nor the humorist that the others are, andMichael Dorris's fable-like reverie just kind of makes you go"huh?"

I'm kicking myself repeatedly for not buying the RockBottom Remainders video I saw in a cheapo rack at a Fred Meyer supermarketin Coos Bay, Oregon some years ago.... ... Read more

Book Description
The Hundred Secret Senses is an exultant novel about China and America, love and loyalty, the identities we invent and the true selves we discover along the way. Olivia Laguni is half-Chinese, but typically American in her uneasiness with her patchwork family. And no one in Olivia's family is more embarrassing to her than her half-sister, Kwan Li. For Kwan speaks mangled English, is cheerfully deaf to Olivia's sarcasm, and sees the dead with her "yin eyes."
Even as Olivia details the particulars of her decades-long grudge against her sister (who, among other things, is a source of infuriatingly good advice), Kwan Li is telling her own story, one that sweeps us into the splendor, squalor, and violence of Manchu China. And out of the friction between her narrators, Amy Tan creates a work that illuminates both the present and the past sweetly, sadly, hilariously, with searing and vivid prose.Download Description
"The Hundred Secret Senses is an exultant novel about China and America, love and loyalty, the identities we invent and the true selves we discover along the way. Olivia Laguni is half-Chinese, but typically American in her uneasiness with her patchwork family. And no one in Olivia's family is more embarrassing to her than her half-sister, Kwan Li. For Kwan speaks mangled English, is cheerfully deaf to Olivia's sarcasm, and sees the dead with her ""yin eyes.""Even as Olivia details the particulars of her decades-long grudge against her sister (who, among other things, is a source of infuriatingly good advice), Kwan Li is telling her own story, one that sweeps us into the splendor, squalor, and violence of Manchu China. And out of the friction between her narrators, Amy Tan creates a work that illuminates both the present and the past sweetly, sadly, hilariously, with searing and vivid prose." ... Read more

Book Description
The first time Amy Tan--The New York Times best-selling author of The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, and The Hundred Secret Senses--learned her mother's real name as well as that of her grandmother was on the day she died. It happened as Tan and several sidblings--unified by a need to feel helpful instead of helpless--gathered to discuss their dying mother's past and prepare her obituary. Tan was stunned when she realized she had not known her own mother's birth name. It was just one of several surprises. In the act of writing a simple obituary Tan came to realize there was still so much she did not know about her. Soon afterwards she began rewriting the novel she had been working on for five years. Inspired by her own experiences with family secrets kept by one generation from the next, and drawn from a lifetime of questions and images, the result is The Bonesetters's Daughter. The story begins when Ruth Young, a ghostwriter of self-help books, comes across a clipped stack of papers in the bottom of a desk drawer. Young has been caring for her ailing mother, LuLing, who is beginning to show the unmistakable signs of Alzheimer's disease. Written in Chinese by LuLing years earlier, when she first started worrying something was wrong with her memory, the papers contain a narrative of LuLing's life as a girl in China, and the life of her own mother, the daughter of the Famous Bonesetter from the village of Xian Xin--Immortal Heart--near the Mouth of the Mountain. Within the calligraphed pages Ruth finds the truth about a mother's heart, what she cannot tell her daughter yet hopes her daughter will never forget.
With her latest novel Amy Tan explores the changing place one has in a family of names that were nearly forgotten. Just as she herself has done, Tan shows Ruth finding the secrets and fragments of her mother's past--its heartfelt desires, its deepest wounds, its most profound hopes--and with each new discovery reconfiguring her assessment of the woman who shaped her life, who is in her bones.
The extent to which Tan's newest novel mixes pure fiction with elements of autobiography is made clear by Tan herself. In acknowledgements of The Bonesetter's Daughter she writes, "The heart of this story belongs to my grandmother, its voice to my mother."Download Description
"The first time Amy Tan - The New York Times best-selling author of The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, and The Hundred Secret Senses - learned her mother's real name as well as that of her grandmother was on the day she died. It happened as Tan and several sidblings - unified by a need to feel helpful instead of helpless - gathered to discuss their dying mother's past and prepare her obituary. Tan was stunned when she realized she had not known her own mother's birth name. It was just one of several surprises. In the act of writing a simple obituary Tan came to realize there was still so much she did not know about her. Soon afterwards she began rewriting the novel she had been working on for five years. Inspired by her own experiences with family secrets kept by one generation from the next, and drawn from a lifetime of questions and images, the result is The Bonesetters's Daughter. The story begins when Ruth Young, a ghostwriter of self-help books, comes across a clipped stack of papers in the bottom of a desk drawer. Young has been caring for her ailing mother, LuLing, who is beginning to show the unmistakable signs of Alzheimer's disease. Written in Chinese by LuLing years earlier, when she first started worrying something was wrong with her memory, the papers contain a narrative of LuLing's life as a girl in China, and the life of her own mother, the daughter of the Famous Bonesetter from the village of Xian Xin - Immortal Heart - near the Mouth of the Mountain. Within the calligraphed pages Ruth finds the truth about a mother's heart, what she cannot tell her daughter yet hopes her daughter will never forget. ... Read more

Amazon.com
A great story gets its hooks into you right from the start; you knowyou're in the hands of a good writer when the very first sentence transports you wholly into another world. "Mother preferred Zulu servants." "It must be, Ruth thought, that she was going to die in the spring." "Who would have thought that a war of such proportions would bother to turn in its fury against the fools of Chelm?"

The 21 fictions featured in The Best American Short Stories 1999 have very little in common--but whether they're about ranchers or commuters, romantic seekers or New Age pilgrims, what they do share is a sense of urgency. In each of them, there's a kind of voice that announces its need to be heard. "I'm not a bad guy," pleads the narrator of "The Sun, the Moon, the Stars," and even though he cheats on his girlfriend, by the end of Junot Díaz's story you might be tempted toagree anyway. (Especially considering the charming way he turns Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener into a verb--as in, "A lot of the time she Bartlebys me, says, 'No, I'd rather not.'") "Real Estate," by that master of bittersweet comedy Lorrie Moore, starts by repeating "Ha! Ha! Ha!" for two solid pages but becomes a rueful take on marriage, house-hunting, and even death: "The body, hauling sadnesses, pursued the soul, hobbled after. The body was like a sweet dim dog trotting lamely toward the gate as you tried slowly to drive off, out the long driveway. Take me, take me too, barked the dog."

Other standouts in this collection include Alice Munro's "Save the Reaper," a kind of "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" where no one is killed or