Amy tan biography timeline books list

She is also known for other novels, short story collections, children's books, and a memoir. Tan's latest book is The Backyard Bird Chronicles , an illustrated account of her experiences with birding and the era sociopolitical climate. Amy was born in Oakland, California. Her father was an electrical engineer and Baptist minister who traveled to the United States , in order to escape the chaos of the Chinese Civil War.

Peterson High School in Sunnyvale , for a year.

Amy tan books ranked

When she was fifteen, her father and older brother, Peter, both died of brain tumors within six months of each other. She also learned how her mother left those children in Shanghai. Amy had a difficult relationship with her mother. At one point, Daisy held a knife to Amy's throat and threatened to kill her while the two were arguing over Amy's new boyfriend.

Her mother wanted Amy to be independent, stressing that Amy needed to make sure she was self-sufficient. Amy later found out that her mother had three abortions, while in China. Daisy often threatened to kill herself, saying that she wanted to join her mother Amy's grandmother, who died by suicide. Amy and her mother did not speak for six months, after Amy dropped out of the Baptist college her mother had selected for her, Linfield College in Oregon, to follow her boyfriend to San Jose City College in California.

While in school, Tan worked several odd jobs—serving as a switchboard operator , carhop , bartender, and pizza maker—before starting a writing career. Early in , Tan began writing her first novel, The Joy Luck Club , while working as a business writer. She joined a writers' workshop, the Squaw Valley Program, to refine her draft.