Where the Past Begins
Amy Tan
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Where the Past Begins
Amy Tan
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
In her ambushing and revealing memoir, beloved novelist Tan chronicles with striking candor, sharp wit, and storytelling magic stranger-than-fiction traumas.
...an] honest, thoughtful, at times meandering memoir.
Not all of the book’s material works: Several shorter digressions, labeled 'quirks,' come off more as disconnected filler than meaningful pieces of a larger project. And at times some repetition across the essays creates frustration rather than the recursive meditation that may have been intended.
Such minor detractions hardly mar the overall power of this richly varied, thought-provoking book. Where the Past Begins will surely gratify Tan’s many fans, and likely win her numerous new ones..
Tan brings the reader directly into those heart-pounding moments of creation throughout the book. She explores how her mind crafts narratives when she hears music, then draws us into one of those narratives as if we’re watching it unfold with her inside her skull.
…a variegated collection of gradually self-revealing entries … Where the Past Begins is subtitled ‘a writer’s memoir,’ and it’s worth mentioning what Tan doesn’t include. There is very little mention of published books; instead, she elaborates on the act of writing, the mechanics and results of her own imagination. She explains the central importance of metaphors, the stories her mind spins while she listens to music..
Tan’s candid revelations make much of the book entertaining, but the slight journal entries and short pieces she calls 'quirks' read like filler, and many chapters would have benefited from further editing. A composite portrait that should appeal to the author’s fans..
...[a] wise and profound memoir.