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The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life
 
 
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The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Soon after my first book was published, I found myself often confronted with the subject of my mortality..." (more)
Key Phrases: mah jong table, minority writers, Amy Tan, New York, San Francisco (more...)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.



From Publishers Weekly

Tan's bestselling works of fiction are, in part, based on her own family history, and this robust book, her first nonfiction effort, explains much about where those stories came from and how they influenced her. The collection of "casual pieces" (previously published in such diverse venues as Harper's Bazaar, Ski Magazine, the New Yorker, Salon.com and even PW) covers Tan's childhood in California and Switzerland; her writing career; her relationships with her mother and her late editor, Faith Sale; and, most significantly, the role of fate in her life. Raised with "two pillars of beliefs" (Christian faith on her father's side; Chinese fate on her mother's), Tan finds luckboth good and badin all corners of her life. Ultimately, however, she knows "a higher power knows the next move and... we are at the mercy of that force." As she reflects on how things have happened in her 50-odd years, Tan's writing varies from poetic to prosaic. In an excerpt from a journal she kept during a 1990 trip to China, she eloquently describes Shanghai's streets: "Gray pants and white shirts are suspended from long bamboo poles that overhang the street. The laundry flaps in the wind like proletarian banners." But reading about Tan's adventures with her rock band, the Rock Bottom Remainders, feels a bit like reading someone else's high school yearbook's inside jokes, as she reminisces about truck-stop breakfasts and late-night sing-alongs. Still, this is a powerful collection that should enthrall readers of The Joy Luck Club and Tan's other novels. B&w photos.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (September 28, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0142004898
  • ISBN-13: 978-0142004890
  • Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #136,917 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #10 in  Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( T ) > Tan, Amy
    #33 in  Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Chinese

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Customer Reviews

54 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (54 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars What is the opposite of fate? Self knowledge?, October 30, 2003
This review is from: The Opposite of Fate (Hardcover)
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.
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34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Amy Tan in her own voice, July 12, 2004
By Eileen Rieback (Coral Springs, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Opposite of Fate (Hardcover)
"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

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Opposite of Fiction, June 22, 2005
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.


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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book
An excellent book! I enjoy several of Amy Tan's books and this one shed a lot of light on my favorite (The Kitchen God's Wife). Read more
Published 8 months ago by Catherine M. Felt

5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable and Deeply Personal
I am reviewing this book after reading it for the second time, so it should already be obvious that I enjoyed it. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Lovely Reader

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best In Chinese Take-Out
I didn't read The Joy Luck Club; I wasn't interested, it sounded like a chick book, and I don't play Mah Jong. This book is more like taking a peek inside Amy Tan. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Elliot Malach

5.0 out of 5 stars audio version is charming, engaging, magical
The book is wonderful, so interesting. It is rather like Eat,Pray,Love with a chinese twist.

The AUDIO version of the book is a revelation: Amy Tan has a lively... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Sedmai

5.0 out of 5 stars Now I Know Amy
I've always enjoyed her novels, and The Opposite of Fate gave me an even deeper understanding of the origins of her work. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Kirstin G. Larson

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Amy Tan Book
This book is a personal favorite, as it gives so much insight into Tan's writing and her views, but also because the essays are simply so enjoyable to read. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Litr8r

5.0 out of 5 stars 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. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Kristan Hoffman

5.0 out of 5 stars tan again
so good I dont want to finish the book (2 pages each time I sit to read)
Published 22 months ago by BOU

5.0 out of 5 stars 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... Read more
Published on June 17, 2007 by Nina M. Osier

5.0 out of 5 stars 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. Read more
Published on May 13, 2007 by Arlen Kerbaugh

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