The Opposite of Fate by Amy Tan

I have enjoyed the books that I have read by Amy Tan in the past. I also think she is an interesting character, being a member of the band Stephen King is in is one of the reasons. Accidentally, in the past, I have stumbled upon non-fiction essays by Amy Tan. Finding a collection of her essays was therefore something that thrilled me. (Although one would doubt that considering it then sat on my shelf for about two years.)

I thought this was brilliant. There are so many interesting essays, lines and passages in this book, I could really see myself rereading it - with a pile of tags on hand. I also enjoy Tan's voice. She is humorous, intelligent and has such a quaint way of putting things.

Her essays, particularly the one on English speaking where she discusses the problems her mother encountered being Chinese; and the one where she speaks about the expectations on authors of colour to fit within their own minority and write about their cultures in a positive light, have given me loads to debate and contemplate.

I can see that some folks could see some aspects of this being repetitive. This is a collection of essays, speeches etc. Each entry was meant to be heard in isolation from the others - which means that some facts are repeated. Maybe it isn't the most thrilling thing to encounter in a book - but I will gladly ignore that. I am just happy that all these essays were put in one place where I could get my hands on them.

I gave this 5 stars on Goodreads.