Born in 1952 in the predominantly white neighbourhood of Oakland, California, the Chinese American novelist Amy Tan describes herself as “the average baby boomer . . . [and] a median sort of person” (Stanton 1995, 9). Her parents emigrated to America in the late 1940s, just before the communist revolution in China. John Tan worked as an electrical engineer, but he was also an assistant minister at various Baptist churches. He ensured that his daughter and her two brothers were brought up in a religious household. Daisy Tan, his wife, was also supposed to follow a Christian lifestyle. Both parents were highly ambitious regarding their children, especially when it came to work and money. For example, Amy was expected to become a

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First published 17 March 2001 ; revised 17 June 2004

Citation: Adams, Bella. "Amy Tan". The Literary Encyclopedia. 17 March 2001.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4311, accessed 9 February 2010.]