Customer Reviews

The Opposite of Fate

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I was privileged to receive an advance reader's copy of this latest book by Amy Tan. In her novels, Tan uses material culled from her own life and her family's history. But I believe this is her first nonfiction book, and in it she displays the same qualities for which her fiction is so appreciated: humor, poignancy, revelation, a little magic - and always fascination with the world and our relationships within it. In The Opposite of Fate, she reveals herself. Especially moving is a part in which she realizes she only learned who her mother really was as she was writing her obituary. A collection of "musings," more than a chronological memoir, The Opposite of fate is intimate, literary, and wonderful.

"The Opposite of Fate" is a collection of musings that cover the many facets of Amy Tan's life, career, and philosophies. The book runs the gamut from a library contest entry written when she was eight to articles and lectures about her current life as a writer. These essays are quite personal, honest, and told with humor and amazing insight.

Tan reminisces on her childhood and the clash of Chinese fate and Christian faith in her upbringing. She provides many details about her family, especially her relationship with her mother. She also talks about the loss of both her father and brother to brain cancer the same year, as well as the deaths of several close friends. She describes her harrowing experience with Lyme's disease. She talks with amusement about doctoral dissertations and Cliff's Notes that analyze her work. She discusses what it means to be classified as an Asian-American writer, and how it feels to be a literary celebrity. She recounts her experiences in the literary rock band "The Rock Bottom Remainders."

I listened to the audio version of this book, which was read by Amy Tan herself. Since this collection let me peek into the author's triumphs, tragedies, hopes, and fears, it was very effective to hear the essays read in her own voice. After reading this book, you will better understand the elements that make up the author's stories, such as the echoes of her mother's influence in the novels' mother-daughter relationships. I recommend this book for every Amy Tan fan. It may provide enough insight on the real Amy Tan so that you'll want to reread some of her novels.

Eileen Rieback

Although I read only the occasional novel, I really love it when a novelist tries her hand at non-fiction. Fiction writers turn everything into stories. The essays and memories in The Opposite of Fate read like short stories, with the pacing and structure of fiction.

This is not a memoir, rather a collection of thoughts, essays, interviews, memories, even a prize-winning essay Amy Tan wrote when she was eight years old. The pieces at the beginning of the book are more light-hearted than the later ones. In one, Tan is surprised to find that Joy Luck Club has a CliffNotes version and is interested to discover what she was trying to say in her novel. Not only that, the CliffNotes biography doesn't quite match what she recalls from her own life. In another chapter, Tan tells how she became a bad singer in the Rock Bottom Remainders, a bad band. Her story of how Joy Luck Club was made into a movie is fascinating.

There is a lot about Tan's mother, a huge influence in her life, both good and bad. When Tan turns serious, watch out. She has had several brushes with death, and her September 11 memories are out of the ordinary, as well. She also writes about how she came to be a writer and have her first novel published at thirty-seven.

Most of these pieces are quickly read, and only one or two seem seemed too long. I am embarrassed to say that I have not read the novels of Amy Tan, but having finished this very enjoyable "Book of Musings," I look forward to getting her other books right away.

When I read my first Amy Tan book, "The Hundred Secret Senses", I came to feel a strong connection with the author, although I am not usually attracted to the bizarre and the supernatural. That connection grew even stronger with each subsequent book by her that I read. "The Opposite of Fate" was a delight to read, it felt like a friend was telling me about her life and our friendhship was growing deeper and deeper with every chapter. From that book, I learned how pain and love have shaped a fascinating life and an extraordinary person. Even if you are not an Amy Tan fan, you could relate to her experiences and appreciate the truth behind the facts of her life, as revealed in "The Opposite of Fate".

She knows the power of hope, and she shares that knowledge with the reader in a compelling way. I think that love is the ultimate force behind everything she writes about, both in this autobiographical book and in her fiction. It is love that lends a strong sense of reality even to the strangest situations and images in her fiction, making them sound true, important, and exciting. In "The Opposite of Fate", love comes through in many of her musings and descriptions.

I just finished reading this book and really it is very different from any other Amy Tam work. Her voice is so explicitly loud and funny that this book is worth your time even if your aren't a major Amy Tan fan. All the way through she will challenge you to think about writing and life in different ways. As a special bonus, I think I gained alot of insight into her earlier works that casts them in a different light for me.

I was really excited that Amy Tan decided to do this non-fiction book of essays. I really wanted to learn more about her as a person and writer. Unfortunately, it's a mish-mash of essays, e-mails and prepared speeches written over different times and a lot of it overlaps. The essays are categorized under different themes, but still doesn't flow really well. I wish she had written a straight-forward memoir which I think would have been fascinating instead of giving us glimpses of her life here and there. For example, after being married for appx. 30 years, it would have been interesting to her "musings" about marriage, etc. There are some really moving essays here, esp. "Last Week" about her mother's final days.

Having read Amy Tan's novels and being a big fan of her novels, I often found myself wondering what was real and fictional in her work. Her characters were so vividly drawn, and the relationships along them so complex and rich, it just seemed to have come from somewhere either deep inside her, or perhaps relationships she's actually experienced. Having read this book of essays twice now, I can say that each essay offers a vivid glimpse into her life and how it is reflected in her writing. I always admired her writing and knew it was brilliant, but I didn't really how delightfully FUNNY she is. Amy Tan has a way of laughing at the tragic events in her life, not dismissively, but with true philosophic humor and understanding, in a way that is inspiring. Throughout these essays, she commonly explores the relationship between "faith" and "fate" in her life and the various ways that her difficulties and bizarre events have shaped her into the powerful writer and all-around fascinating person that she is today. It inspires readers to think a little deeper about their own lives, and how seeming tragedies may be blessings in disguise.

"The Opposite of Fate" is a book of essays from various periods in the author's life, including one written when she was eight years old, on why she loved the public library. Her revelations on the process of writing are especially interesting; what influenced her choices on plot and character. She talks about family, the angst of writing the "second book," the dilemma of being expected to represent "Asian Americans" instead of being accepted solely as an "American" writer. The writing, as always, is luminous. I couldn't put it down.

In a beautiful, witty, and human voice, Amy Tan discusses and relates anecdotes from her life. The tales that Tan tells cover all of the subjects that make a novel juicy: love, death, illness, war, murder, rock bands, and a quirky family. Only these tales aren't fiction, they are parts of Tan's own life. Tan also shares some insight into the life of a writer and publishes several speeches she has given over the years.

"The Opposite of Fate" is a wonderful collection of short recollections. If you are expecting a coherent story out of this book, then you will be disappointed. While the recollections are grouped together by Tan, it is not a continuous narrative. Do not let this point deter you from reading this book. It was truly excellent. Tan is funny and honest. She bares a portion of herself that her readers have seen peeking at them from her works for years.

If you are in the mood for something a bit different, but completely wonderful, definitely pick up a copy of this book!

I loved the musings in this book: thoughts on family, particularly mothers, illness, ethnic categorization, and best of all musing on the art of writing and being a writer.

"Sapir said something else about language and reality. It is the part that often gets left behind in the dot-dot-dots of quotations:'No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different socities live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached.'"

"I write stories because I have questions about life,not answers. I believe life is mysterious and not dissectable. I think human nature is best described in even a long-winded story and not in a psychoanalytical diagnosis. I write because often I can't express myself any other way, and I think I'll implode if I don't find the words. I can't paraphrase or give succinct morals about love and hope, pain and loss. I have to use a mental longhand, ponder and work it out in the form of a story that is revised again and again, twenty times, a hundred times, until it feels true.

I write for very much the same reasons that I read: to startle my mind, to churn my heart, to tingle my spine, to knock the blinders off my eyes and allow me to see beyond the pale. Fiction is an intimate companion and confidant for life."

As other reviewers have said, there is a fair amount of repetition of events in this book, but that is counter-balanced by the excellent writing and often new takes on the same story. By the end of the book, I was hoping that Amy Tan will again soon startle our minds with more fiction.