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

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

Tan, Amy, (author.).

Summary:

By delving into vivid memories of her traumatic childhood, confessions of self-doubt in her journals, and heartbreaking letters to and from her mother, Tan 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.

Record details

ISBN: 9780062319296
Physical Description: x, 357 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Publisher: [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 2017.

Content descriptions

Formatted Contents Note:

Introduction: Where the past begins -- Prologue: The breaker of combs -- A leaking imagination -- Music as muse -- Quirk: Souvenir from a dream -- Hidden genius -- Interlude: Reorientation: Homer, Alaska -- Genuine emotions -- The feeling of what it felt like when it happened -- Quirk: A mere mortal at age twenty-five -- Quirk: A mere mortal at age twenty-six -- Quirk: How to change fate: step 1 -- Interlude: The unfurling of leaves -- Interlude: The auntie of the woman who lost her mind -- Unstoppable -- Quirk: Time and distance: age twenty-four -- Quirk: Time and distance: age fifty -- Quirk: Time and distance: age sixty -- The darkest moment of my life -- Quirk: Nipping dog -- The father I did not know -- Quirk: Reliable witness -- Interlude: I am the author of this novel -- How I learned to read -- Quirk: Splayed poem: The road -- Quirk: Eidolons -- Letters to the editor -- Letters in English -- Quirk: Why write? --

Language: a love story -- Quirk: Intestinal fortitude -- Principles of linguistics -- Epilogue: Companions in the house -- Acknowledgments.