Table Of Content

AMY TAN CriticalCompanionsto PopularContemporaryWriters KathleenGregory Klein,Series Editor V.C.Andrews byE.D.Huntley JohnJakes byMaryEllenJones TomClancy byHelenS.Garson StephenKing bySharonA.Russell MaryHigginsClark byLindaC.Pelzer DeanKoontz byJoanG.Kotker ArthurC.Clarke byRobinAnneReid RobertLudlum byGinaMacdonald JamesClavell byGinaMacdonald AnneMcCaffrey byRobinRoberts PatConroy byLandonC.Burns ColleenMcCullough byMaryJeanDeMarr RobinCook byLorenaLauraStookey JamesA.Michener byMarilynS.Severson MichaelCrichton byElizabethA.Trembley AnneRice byJenniferSmith HowardFast byAndrewMacdonald TomRobbins byCatherineE.Hoyserand KenFollett LorenaLauraStookey byRichardC.Turner JohnSaul ErnestJ.Gaines byPaulBail byKarenCarmean ErichSegal JohnGrisham byLindaC.Pelzer byMaryBethPringle AmyTan JamesHerriot byE.D.Huntley byMichaelJ.Rossi LeonUris TonyHillerman byKathleenShineCain byJohnM.Reilly GoreVidal JohnIrving bySusanBakerandCurtisS.Gibson byJosieP.Campbell AMY TAN A Critical Companion E. D. Huntley CRITICAL COMPANIONSTO POPULAR CONTEMPORARYWRITERS Kathleen Gregory Klein, Series Editor Greenwood Press Westport, Connecticut • London LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Huntley,E.D. AmyTan : acriticalcompanion / E.D.Huntley. p. cm.—(Criticalcompanionstopopularcontemporary writers,ISSN1082–4979) Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN0–313–30207–3(alk.paper) 1. Tan,Amy—Criticismandinterpretation. 2. Womenand literature—UnitedStates—History—20thcentury. 3. Chinese Americanwomeninliterature. 4. ChineseAmericansinliterature. I. Title. II. Series. PS3570.A48Z69 1998 813'.54—dc21 97–53225 BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable. Copyright(cid:2)1998byE.D.Huntley Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher. LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:97–53225 ISBN: 0–313–30207–3 ISSN: 1082–4979 Firstpublishedin1998 GreenwoodPress,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881 AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica TM Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For Beowulf and Thurber, who stayed up with me and kept me company during many long nights when I was working on this project; and for David, who kept them fed and walked and happy. ADVISORYBOARD Mary Catherine Byrd, English Teacher, EastMontgomeryHigh School, Biscoe, North Carolina Dr. Dana McDougald,Library Media Specialist, Cedar Shoals High School, Athens, Georgia PatriciaNaismith, Library Media Specialist, Springfield High School, Springfield, Pennsylvania ItaliaNegroni, Head, Library Media TechnologyDepartment,StamfordHigh School, Stamford,Connecticut Rudy Rocamontes,Jr., English Teacher, SouthwestHigh School, San Antonio,Texas Alice F. Stern, Young Adults Librarian,BostonPublic Library, Boston,Massachusetts MarciaWelsh, AssistantDirector, Guilford Free Library, Guilford,Connecticut Contents Series Foreword by Kathleen Gregory Klein ix Acknowledgments xiii 1. The Life of Amy Tan 1 2. Amy Tan and Asian American Literature 19 3. The Joy Luck Club (1988) 41 4. The Kitchen God’s Wife (1991) 79 5. The Hundred Secret Senses (1995) 113 Bibliography 151 Index 161 Series Foreword The authors who appear in the series Critical Companions to Popular Contemporary Writers are all best-selling writers. They do not simply have one successful novel, but a string of them. Fans, critics, and specialist readers eagerly anticipate their next book. For some, high cash advances and breakthrough sales figures are automatic; movie deals of- tenfollow.Somewritersbecomehouseholdnames,recognizedbyalmost everyone. But,theirnovelsarereadonebyone.Eachreaderchoosestostartand, moreimportantly,tofinishabookbecauseofwhatsheorhefindsthere. The real test of a novel is in the satisfaction its readers experience. This series acknowledges the extraordinary involvement of readers andwrit- ers in creating a best-seller. TheauthorsincludedinthisserieswerechosenbyanAdvisoryBoard composed of high school English teachers and high school and public librarians. They ranked a list of best-selling writers according to their popularityamongdifferentgroupsofreaders.Forthefirstseries,writers in the top-ranked group who had received no book-length, academic, literary analysis (or none in at least the past ten years) were chosen. Because of this selection method, Critical Companions to Popular Con- temporary Writers meets a need that is being addressed nowhere else. The success of these volumes as reported by reviewers, librarians, and teachers led to an expansionof theseriesmandatetoincludesomewrit- x SeriesForeword ers with wide critical attention—Toni Morrison, John Irving, and Maya Angelou, for example—to extend the usefulness of the series. The volumes in the series are written by scholars with particular ex- pertise in analyzing popular fiction. These specialists add an academic focus to the popular success that these writers already enjoy. Theseriesisdesignedtoappealtoawiderangeofreaders.Thegeneral reading publicwill findexplanationsfortheappealofthesewell-known writers. Fans will find biographical and fictional questions answered. Students will find literary analysis, discussions of fictional genres, care- fully organized introductions to new ways of reading the novels, and bibliographies for additional research. Whether browsing through the book for pleasure or using it for an assignment, readers will find that the most recent novels of the authors are included. Eachvolumebeginswithabiographicalchapterdrawingonpublished information,autobiographiesormemoirs,priorinterviews,and,insome cases, interviews given especially for this series. A chapter on literary history and genres describes how the author’s work fits into a larger literary context. The following chapters analyze the writer’s most important, most popular, and most recent novels in detail. Each chapter focuses on one or more novels. This approach, suggested by the Ad- visory Board as the most useful to student research, allows for an in- depth analysis of the writer’s fiction. Close and careful readings with numerous examples show readers exactly how the novels work. These chapters are organized around three central elements: plotdevelopment (how the story line moves forward), character development (what the reader knows of the important figures), and theme (the significantideas ofthenovel).Chaptersmayalsoincludesectionsongenericconventions (how the novel is similar or different from others in its same category of science, fantasy, thriller, etc.), narrative point of view (who tells the story and how), symbols and literary language, and historical or social context. Each chapter ends with an ‘‘alternative reading’’ of the novel. The volume concludes with a primary and secondary bibliography, in- cluding reviews. The alternative readings are a unique feature of this series. By dem- onstrating a particular way of reading each novel, they provide a clear example of how a specific perspective can reveal important aspects of the book. In the alternative reading sections, one contemporary literary theory—way of reading, such as feminist criticism, Marxism, new his- toricism,deconstruction,orJungianpsychologicalcritique—isdefinedin brief, easily comprehensible language. That definition is then applied to

Description:

Amy Tan has established a reputation as a major novelist of not only the Asian American experience but the universal experience of family relationships. With the publication of her first novel, The Joy Luck Club in 1988, which touched the hearts of millions of readers, Tan joined the ranks of major