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           Amy Tan was born February 19, 1952 in Oakland, California.   She grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, and later moved to Switzerland after her father and brother died.   She completed high school in Switzerland in three years and graduated in 1969.  Even though her mother encouraged her to go into a medical program, within seven years, Tan studied at five different colleges.  At her first college, Linfield College in Oregon, she met her future husband, Lou DeMattei.  She followed DeMattei to San Jose, California and enrolled in San Jose City College.  She later enrolled in the San Jose State University while taking 2 part time jobs.  She became and English student and President’s scholar.  In 1972, Tan received her B.A. double majoring in English and Linguistics.  Tan earned her M.A. in 1973 from the San Jose State University.  She later became part of an affirmative action program that allowed her to enroll in the University of California at Berkeley, where she began her doctoral studies.  She never finished her doctoral degree because she left Berkeley after the murder of one of her closest friends.

            Tan’s family life was filled with much tragedy.  Her father died of a brain tumor and only a few months later her brother also died of a brain tumor.  Shortly after both of their deaths, Tan’s mother was diagnosed with having a brain tumor also, but it was found to be benign.  After her father’s death, Tan’s mother confessed that she had once been married to an abusive husband in China and that she had left three daughter’s behind when she came to the United States.  This shocking truth later inspired one of the stories in Tan’s first novel Joy Luck Club.  In 1987, Tan accompanied her mother in going to China to be reunited with the three daughters that she had left behind. Tan’s husband, Lou Demattei is currently a tax attorney.

            Tan currently lives in both San Francisco and New York.  Her home in New York is located in Manhattan and her home in San Francisco is located in the Presidio district, which is know for how prestigious it is.  Tan has no children, but has owns a dog named Mr. Zo and a cat named Sagwa.