Saving Fish From Drowning
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3.3 • 4 Ratings
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- £6.99
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- £6.99
Publisher Description
Please note that due to the limitations of some ereading devices, it was not possible to represent diacritical marks in this title.
The highly anticipated novel from the bestselling author of ‘The Joy Luck Club’ and ‘The Bonesetter’s Daughter’.
On an ill-fated art expedition of the Southern Shan State in Burma, eleven Americans leave their Floating Island Resort for a Christmas morning tour – and disappear. Through the twists of fate, curses and just plain human error, they find themselves deep in the Burma jungle, where they encounter a tribe awaiting the return of the leader and the mythical book of wisdom that will protect them from the ravages and destruction of the Myanmar military regime.
Filled with Amy Tan’s signature ‘idiosyncratic, sympathetic characters, haunting images, historical complexity, significant contemporary themes, and suspenseful mystery’ (Los Angeles Times), ‘Saving Fish from Drowning’ seduces the reader with a façade of Buddhist illusions, magical tricks and light comedy, even as the absurd and picaresque spiral into a gripping morality tale about the consequences of intentions – both good and bad – and of the shared responsibility that individuals must accept for the actions of others.
Reviews
'An exciting, funny and thought-provoking story…a masterful novel.' The Telegraph
'One can only admire Amy Tan for striking out into unchartered artistic lands.' Sarah Churchwell, Times Literary Supplement
'Sparkling…a very funny book.' Metro
'Tan’s compelling portrait of a drowning humanity, pain seeks us out in our hiding places, however far we would run.' Anita Sethi, Observer
About the author
Born in the US to immigrant parents from China, Amy Tan failed her mother's expectations that she become a doctor and concert pianist. She settled on writing fiction. Her novels are ‘The Joy Luck Club’, ‘The Kitchen God's Wife’, ‘The Hundred Secret Senses’, ‘The Bonesetter's Daughter’, and ‘Saving Fish from Drowning’, all New York Times bestsellers and the recipient of various awards. She is also the author of a memoir, ‘The Opposite of Fate’, two children's books, The Moon Lady and Sagwa, and numerous articles for magazines, including The New Yorker, Harper’s Bazar. Her work has been translated into 35 languages, from Spanish, French, and Finnish to Chinese, Arabic, and Hebrew.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tan (The Bonesetter's Daughter) delivers another highly entertaining novel, this one narrated from beyond the grave. San Francisco socialite and art-world doyenne Bibi Chen has planned the vacation of a lifetime along the notorious Burma Road for 12 of her dearest friends. Violently murdered days before takeoff, she's reduced to watching her friends bumble through their travels from the remove of the spirit world. Making the best of it, the 11 friends who aren't hung over depart their Myanmar resort on Christmas morning to boat across a misty lake and vanish. The tourists find themselves trapped in jungle-covered mountains, held by a refugee tribe that believes Rupert, the group's surly teenager, is the reincarnation of their god Younger White Brother, come to save them from the unstable, militaristic Myanmar government. Tan's travelers, who range from a neurotic hypochondriac to the debonair, self-involved host of a show called The Fido Files, fight and flirt among themselves. While ensemble casting precludes the intimacy that characterizes Tan's mother-daughter stories, the book branches out with a broad plot and dynamic digressions. It's based on a true story, and Tan seems to be having fun with it, indulging in the wry, witty voice of Bibi while still exploring her signature questions of fate, connection, identity and family.
