Amy Tan

Tan grew up in Oakland, California, in a household upended when her father and one of her brothers both died of brain tumors within a year of each other during her teens. Her mother later revealed she had fled a previous, abusive marriage in Shanghai just before the Communist takeover, leaving behind three daughters Tan would not meet until adulthood, the buried history that became the raw material for The Joy Luck Club.

Tan had studied linguistics and worked as a business writer before turning to fiction; the novel, structured around four immigrant mothers and their American-born daughters, became a massive bestseller on its 1989 publication and was adapted into a well-received 1993 film.

She has continued writing fiction and memoir while also performing as a singer-guitarist in the Rock Bottom Remainders, a novelty rock band of well-known authors including Stephen King and Dave Barry.