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Opposite Of Fate
 
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Opposite Of Fate (Hardcover)

by Amy Tan (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)

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4 new from CDN$ 25.00 37 used from CDN$ 0.52 1 collectible from CDN$ 39.99

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Product Description

From 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



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.
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Customer Reviews

22 Reviews
5 star:
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4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (22 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars Amy at her best, Oct 25 2005
By Sue (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Opposite Of Fate (Paperback)
All Amy Tan fans should read this. I couldn't put it down, and neither could my mom. I've always enjoyed her writings since I can relate to so much of the dynamics between mothers and daughters that she writes about, but I particularly enjoyed this since this was about Amy's own life. Nothing contrived .........she lets us into her life and she also puts to rest some common misconceptions. She writes about her love of words, and these are some of the parts of the book that I didn't enjoy as much, but it was still a great read. As always, easy reading, heartfelt writing, and a good sense of humour and perspective.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Setting the record straight on Amy Tan, April 8 2005
By Myles Delta Freeman "Myles" (Halifax, NS CANADA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Opposite Of Fate (Paperback)
I would highly recommend this book to anyone, and not just  writers, women, North Americans with Asian heritage or people with any such specific demographics. A charming and well-written book that is true to the memoir genre where you get to know the author rather than the events of his/her life. There are enough interesting stories from Ms Tan's past, especially the cultural and cross-cultural ones - the former involving her Chinese ancestry and the latter involving her American and Chinese heritage. The reader knows plenty about the events of her life, but only the ones which matter to her, which, ultimately, are the ones that really matter in getting to know someone. However, Ms Tan's goal and focus was to set the record straight on Amy Tan, what she's like and where she stands on many issues, and that she did. There are many enlightening essays with Ms Tan's views and questions on a variety of interesting topics, with notes on how they've impacted her life. The writing style, vocabulary and organization of stories are very typical and symbolic of Ms Tan's ways. I feel like I partly know her now, as in having a feel of the gist of what she is like, how she thinks and sees the world, and that I would find her very amiable if I met her. I only wish every memoir could tell me as much about the writer. PS If you are writing essays on Ms Tan's books and/or her, take her advice and avoid using Cliff's Notes. Cliff never met her. Net sources are even worse!
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5.0 out of 5 stars The Opposite of Fate, Jul 18 2004
By smartnurse123 (Slidell, LA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Opposite of Fate (Audio Cassette)
This is Amy Tan at her best... Her own life is much more interesting than her fiction!
I enjoyed hearing her own point of view as she described the motivation for writing her various novels. Each one is based on a real experience in her life. Her family, especially her relationship to her mother, is simply fascinating and the way she crafts her words is so poetic.

I am now inspired to read all of her other fictional books!

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 		 Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Amy Tan in her own voice
"The Opposite of Fate" is a collection of musings that cover the many facets of Amy Tan's life, career, and philosophies. Read more
Published on Jul 12 2004 by Eileen Rieback

4.0 out of 5 stars Your Life May Depend on It
This nonfiction book is an interesting collection of essays and musings about Amy Tan, written by Amy Tan, the author of four best selling novels. Read more
Published on Jun 17 2004 by Gregory Bascom

5.0 out of 5 stars AN ALL AMERICAN CHINESE GIRL
What an interesting book this is. I would call this a memoir, yet musings is appropriate as this is about bits and pieces of the author's life in no particular order. Read more
Published on May 12 2004 by Brady Buchanan

5.0 out of 5 stars The Opposite of Fiction
Although I read only the rare novel, I really love it when a novelist tries her hand at non-fiction. Fiction writers turn everything into stories. Read more
Published on April 15 2004 by takingadayoff

5.0 out of 5 stars This Girl Can Write
I'm a sucker for all of Amy Tan's writing, and while this is something completely different from her usual Chinese-American Mother-Daughter stories, I found it extremely... Read more
Published on April 1 2004 by Charles A. Allen

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant AMERICAN writer
Before reading this book, I had never read anything by Amy Tan.
This book was thought-provoking and incredibly enjoyable. Read more
Published on Mar 24 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars INTRIGUING AND HIGHLY LISTENABLE
With lilting voice and understanding heart noted author Amy Tan reads her first work of non-fiction. Read more
Published on Mar 16 2004 by Gail Cooke

5.0 out of 5 stars INTRIGUING AND HIGHLY LISTENABLE
With lilting voice and understanding heart noted author Amy Tan reads her first work of non-fiction. Read more
Published on Mar 16 2004 by Gail Cooke

5.0 out of 5 stars A book of Musings from Amy Tan
I'm not a fan of biographies, I care more about the result of what people did rather than what it was they did. But I liked what Tan did with her "biography". Read more
Published on Feb 15 2004 by stupage_stu

3.0 out of 5 stars Aptly titled uneven collection
I suppose one shouldn't expect much from a book titled "Musings", and truth be told, I didn't rush out to pick this one up as I usually do with Tan's works based simply... Read more
Published on Jan 22 2004 by B. Capossere

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