Who would have thought that during Amy Tan's childhood her parentsstrongly encouraged her to pursue a career as a surgeon or concert pianist("The Joy...")? Certainly, the criticsand fans of Amy Tan would find that hard to believe after she's led such a successfullife as a writer. Tan grew up in afamily of Chinese immigrants with strong cultural beliefs. Amy Tan had a rough relationship with hermother as she was growing up, and those difficulties have led her to thebestseller's she's written up to date (Achievement).
Born in February of1952 in Oakland, California, Tan grew up as a minority in the UnitedStates. …
