{Always SomeThings}

Authorama: Amy Tan

Writer by Day, Dominatrix by Night….

Name: Amy Tan

Born: February 19, 1952

Marital Status: Married to Lou DeMattei since 1974

Occupation: Writer; Simpsons Character; She also describes herself as

lead rhythm dominatrix, backup singer, and second tambourine with the literary garage band, the Rock Bottom Remainders, whose members include Stephen King,  Dave Barry and Scotto Turow. In spite of their dubious talent, their yearly gigs have managed to raise over a million dollars for literacy programs *

Other Facts:

• Suffers from Lyme disease, which she contracted a few years ago.
• Has a dog named, Bombo and a cat named, Sagwa (like the character she created for PBS).

Best Known For: The Joy Luck Club

Words:

• “Then you must teach my daughter this same lesson. How to lose your innocence but not your hope. How to laugh forever.” [Joy Luck Club]
• “Whenever my mother talks to me, she begins the conversation as if we were already in the middle of an argument” [The Kitchen God's Wife]
• “I am like a falling star who has finally found her place next to another in a lovely constellation, where we will sparkle in the heavens forever”

Work:

• The Joy Luck Club (1989)
• The Kitchen God’s Wife (1991)
• The Hundred Secret Senses (1995)
• The Bonesetter’s Daughter (2001)
• Saving Fish from Drowning (2005)

• Best American Short Stories (with Katrina Kenison)
• The Best American Short Stories 1999 (1999)

• Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America With Three Cords and an Attitude (1994) (with Dave Barry, Stephen King, Tabitha King, Barbara Kingsolver)
• Mother (1996) (with Maya Angelou, Mary Higgins Clark)
• The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings (2003)

Awards:

• Finalist National Book Award
• Finalist National Book Critics Circle Award
• Finalist Los Angeles Times Fiction Prize
• Bay Area Book Reviewers Award
• Commonwealth Gold Award
• American Library Association’s Notable Books
• American Library Association’s Best Book for Young Adults
• Selected for the National Endowment for the Arts’ Big Read
• New York Times Notable Book
• Booklist Editors Choice
• Finalist for the Orange Prize
• Nominated for the Orange Prize
• Nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
• Audie Award: Best Non-fiction, Abridged
• Emmy Award
• Parents’ Choice Award, Best Television Program for Children
• Shortlisted British Academy of Film and Television Arts award, best screenplay adaptation
• Shortlisted WGA Award, best screenplay adaptation

Some of the Things She DID NOT do:

• Did not finish any doctoral program: her B.A. and M.A. degrees came from San Jose State University (not Berkeley).
• Did not win the Nobel Prize for Literature
• Did not win the National Book Award, LA Times Book Prize or the Pulitzer (although she was nominated for the first two)
• Did not have more than 1 husband.
• Did not write a book called The Year of No Flood.
• Did not have any children.

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* Rock Bottom Remainders are a literary rock band of EPIC proportions. Members:

Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Stephen King, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount, Jr., Matt Groening, Kathi Kamen Goldmark and Greg Iles. And maybe even Maya Angelou.

A lot has been said about them. Yet, my favorite quotes are:

• “The band’s not too bad. It’s not too good either.”–Bruce Springsteen
• “Roy actually coined the term for our genre of music; ‘hard-listening music.’ ” -Dave Barry
• “We play music as well as Metallica writes novels.” -Dave Barry

I am sort of obsessed (not obsessed enough to light my nails on fire, but…I do love the band of authors idea). Especially since Craig Ferguson claims that he wrote a book just so he could join the band.