Amy Tan

Amy Tan is a Chinese-American and my favorite author.  Whenever I find her work, I want to read.  Her books were usually about China, such as Chinese in China, Chinese immigrants in America, or Chinese-American in America.  The reason I like Amy Tan is not only I like Chinese history, but also her writing style and the way of her expression.  I have never met Amy Tan herself, but I kind of can imagine her uniqueness and sense of humor from her works.  For me, her works are not a type of story I want to read nonstop in a day.  I’d rather enjoy each page and each sentence at a time reading slowly.

My very first Amy Tan’s book is Joy Luck Club.  I still regret I failed to get a chance to see the musical of Joy Luck Club at Diamondhead Theater several years ago.  I was really curious how they would show this story in a musical.  I love this heartwarming story with humor and oddness.  Joy Luck Club had been my favorite of her works until I read The Kitchen God’s Wife, which is incredible, and I love it. The scenes in her books sometimes sound very strange or unfamiliar to me, but somehow her writing skill enables me to imagine each scene vividly.  Although the story is incredible, it also describes normal family relationship that sounds familiar to me.  The balance between familiar and unfamiliar aspects, I think, attracts many readers including me. 

Last year, her new book, The Valley of Amazement, was published.  I’ve heard lots of good reviews and been very interested in it.  It is one of books in my to-read list.