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Where the past begins : a writer's memoir  Cover Image Book Book

Where the past begins : a writer's memoir / Amy Tan.

Tan, Amy, (author.).

Summary:

"From New York Times bestselling author Amy Tan, a memoir on her life as a writer, her childhood, and the symbiotic relationship between fiction and emotional memory"-- Provided by publisher.
"In Where the Past Begins, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Valley of Amazement Amy Tan is at her most intimate, revealing the truths and inspirations that underlie her extraordinary fiction. By delving into vivid memories of her traumatic childhood, confessions of self-doubt in her journals, and heartbreaking letters to and from her mother, she gives evidence to all that made it both unlikely and inevitable that she would become a writer. Through spontaneous storytelling, she shows how a fluid fictional state of mind unleashed near-forgotten memories that became the emotional nucleus of her novels. Tan explores shocking truths uncovered by family memorabilia--the real reason behind an IQ test she took at age six, why her parents lied about their education, mysteries surrounding her maternal grandmother--and, for the first time publicly, writes about her complex relationship with her father, who died when she was fifteen. Suffused with candor and characteristic humor, Where the Past Begins takes readers into the idiosyncratic workings of her writer's mind, a journey that explores memory, imagination, and truth, with fiction serving as both her divining rod and link to meaning."--Dust jacket.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780062319296
  • ISBN: 0062319299
  • Physical Description: x, 357 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
  • Edition: First edition.
  • Publisher: New York, NY : Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2017]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references.
Formatted Contents Note:
Introduction. Where the past begins -- Prologue. The breaker of combs -- I. Imagination. A leaky imagination -- Music as muse -- Souvenir from a dream -- Hidden genius -- Reorientation : Homer, Alaska -- II. Memory in emotion. Genuine emotions -- The feeling of what it felt like when it happened -- A mere mortal at age twenty-five -- A mere mortal at age twenty-six -- How to change fate : step 1 -- III. Retrieving the past. The unfurling of leaves -- The auntie of the woman who lost her mind -- Unstoppable -- Time and distance : age twenty-four -- Time and distance : age fifty -- Time and distance : age sixty -- IV. Unknown endings. The darkest moment of my life -- Nipping dog -- The father I did not know -- Reliable witness -- V. Reading and writing. I am the author of this novel -- How I learned to read -- Splayed poem : the road -- Eidolons -- Letters to the editor -- Letters in English -- Why write? -- VI. Language. Language : a love story -- Intestinal fortitude -- Principles of linguistics -- Companions in the house.
Subject: Tan, Amy.
Tan, Amy
Chinese American novelists > Biography.
Novelists, American > 20th century > Biography.
Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs.
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Literary.
LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Composition & Creative Writing.
Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)
Novelists, American.
Genre: Autobiographies.
Autobiographies.

Available copies

  • 20 of 20 copies available at Evergreen Indiana.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 20 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Alexandria-Monroe PL - Alexandria B TAN (Text) 37521530866112 AMPL Adult Biography Available -
Brazil PL - Brazil 813.54 T (Text) 38160000552859 Second Floor, Non-Fiction Available -
Fulton Co PL - Rochester Main Library 921 TAN (Text) 33187004297327 Nonfiction Available -
Greensburg-Decatur Co PL - Greensburg BIO TAN (Text) 32826014119895 Adult Biography Available -
Greenwood PL - Greenwood NONFICTION BIOGRAPHY Tan (Text) 36626103877775 2nd Floor Adult Nonfiction Available -
Hussey-Mayfield Mem. PL - Zionsville B TAN, AMY TAN (Text) 33946003268641 Adult Biographies Available -
Kewanna-Union Twp PL - Kewanna B TAN (Text) 35887000593466 Adult Non-Fiction Available -
Mooresville PL - Mooresville 921 TAN (Text) 37323005319556 NONFIC Available -
Newburgh Chandler PL - Chandler Branch Library 921 TAN (Text) 39206021342256 NonFiction Available -
North Madison Co PL - Elwood PL B TAN TAN (Text) 30419101517611 Adult Non-Fiction Available -

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    In Where the Past Begins, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Valley of Amazement Amy Tan is at her most intimate in revealing the truths and inspirations that underlie her extraordinary fiction. By delving into vivid memories of her traumatic childhood, confessions of self-doubt in her journals, and heartbreaking letters to and from her mother, she gives evidence to all that made it both unlikely and inevitable that she would become a writer. Through spontaneous storytelling, she shows how a fluid fictional state of mind unleashed near-forgotten memories that became the emotional nucleus of her novels. 

    Tan explores shocking truths uncovered by family memorabilia'the real reason behind an IQ test she took at age six, why her parents lied about their education, mysteries surrounding her maternal grandmother'and, for the first time publicly, writes about her complex relationship with her father, who died when she was fifteen. Supplied with candor and characteristic humor, Where the Past Begins takes readers into the idiosyncratic workings of her writer's mind, a journey that explores memory, imagination, and truth, with fiction serving as both her divining rod and link to meaning. 

  • HARPERCOLL

    FROM NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR AMY TAN, A MEMOIR ON HER LIFE AS A WRITER, HER CHILDHOOD, AND THE SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FICTION AND EMOTIONAL MEMORY

    In Where the Past Begins, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Valley of Amazement Amy Tan is at her most intimate in revealing the truths and inspirations that underlie her extraordinary fiction. By delving into vivid memories of her traumatic childhood, confessions of self-doubt in her journals, and heartbreaking letters to and from her mother, she gives evidence to all that made it both unlikely and inevitable that she would become a writer. Through spontaneous storytelling, she shows how a fluid fictional state of mind unleashed near-forgotten memories that became the emotional nucleus of her novels. 

    Tan explores shocking truths uncovered by family memorabilia—the real reason behind an IQ test she took at age six, why her parents lied about their education, mysteries surrounding her maternal grandmother—and, for the first time publicly, writes about her complex relationship with her father, who died when she was fifteen. Supplied with candor and characteristic humor, Where the Past Begins takes readers into the idiosyncratic workings of her writer’s mind, a journey that explores memory, imagination, and truth, with fiction serving as both her divining rod and link to meaning. 


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