Prologue. The breaker of combs -- I. Imagination -- A leaky imagination -- Music as muse -- Souvenir from a dream -- Hidden genius -- Reorientation: Homer, Alaska -- II. Memory in emotion -- Genuine emotions -- The feeling of what it felt like when it happened -- A mere mortal at age twenty-five -- A mere mortal at age twenty-six -- How to change fate: step 1 -- III. Retrieving the past -- The unfurling of leaves -- The auntie of the woman who lost her mind -- Unstoppable -- Time and distance: age twenty-four -- Time and distance: age fifty -- Time and distance: age sixty -- IV. Unknown endings -- The darkest moment of my life -- Nipping dog -- The father I did not know -- Reliable witness -- V. Reading and writing -- I am the author of this novel -- How I learned to read -- Splayed poem: the road -- Eidolons -- Letters to the editor -- Letters in English -- Why write? -- VI. Language -- Language: a love story -- Intestinal fortitude -- Principles of linguistics -- Companions in the house.
Summary:
"From New York Times bestselling author Amy Tan, a memoir on her life as a writer, her childhood, and the symbiotic relationship between fiction and emotional memory"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.