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Don Swaim Interviews

Audio Interview with Amy Tan

The Joy Luck Club, a collection of short stories by Amy Tan, may be about Chinese mothers and their American daughters, but the relationship between mother and daughter can also be applied to families the world over.

Much of Tan's writing is influenced by her Chinese upbringing in San Francisco. Growing up, she was caught between parents wanting her to think like a Chinese person, where everything exists in relation to the family values, and being like her American peers who aspired for individualism.

In another book, Rules of the Game, Tan writes about the challenges of a child prodigy of a Chinese family. This novel is based on true events. Tan, since age of 5, was told her destiny in life were to become a neurosurgeon and be a concert pianist on the side.

The irony in that, however, came when Tan was 15. Both her father and her brother died within six months of each other due to brain tumors. That tramatic event would stay with her for the rest of her life.

Listen to the Amy Tan interview with Don Swaim, March 24, 1989, RealAudio
(24 min. 36 sec.)

MP3 File

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