Books

Item Description

You are bidding on an autographed copy of this amazing book about birds.  With ir are 7 postcards of Amy's sketches - perfect for framing.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A gorgeous, witty account of birding, nature, and the beauty around us that hides in plain sight, written and illustrated by the best-selling author of The Joy Luck Club • With a foreword by David Allen Sibley

“Unexpected and spectacular” —Ann Patchett, best-selling author of These Precious Days

"The drawings and essays in this book do a lot more than just describe the birds. They carry a sense of discovery through observation and drawing, suggest the layers of patterns in the natural world, and emphasize a deep personal connection between the watcher and the watched. The birds that inhabit Amy Tan’s backyard seem a lot like the characters in her novels.” —David Allen Sibley, from the foreword

Tracking the natural beauty that surrounds us, The Backyard Bird Chronicles maps the passage of time through daily entries, thoughtful questions, and beautiful original sketches. With boundless charm and wit, author Amy Tan charts her foray into birding and the natural wonders of the world.

In 2016, Amy Tan grew overwhelmed by the state of the world.  In search of peace, Tan turned toward the natural world just beyond her window and, specifically, the birds visiting her yard. She began taking nature journaling classes with John Muir Laws.  But what began as an attempt to find solace turned into something far greater—an opportunity to savor quiet moments during a volatile time, connect to nature in a meaningful way, and imagine the intricate lives of the birds she admired.

During the pandemic shutdown, she spent long hours observing the behavior of wild birds in her backyard.  Her editor, Dan Halpern, suggested she turn those pencil sketches, colored portraits and journal notes into an illustrated book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, published in April 2024 by Knopf, which became an instant #1 bestseller.   Her drawings were on special exhibition at the Roger Torey Peterson Institute. 

Amy Tan's History in Writing:

In 1985, Amy attended her first fiction workshop at the Community of Writers in Palisades Tahoe. She and several participants formed a writers group, led by author and creative writing teacher Molly Giles.  Her first story, “Rules of the Game,” was published in 1986  in a small literary magazine, FM Five.  It was reprinted in Seventeen, and soon after translated into Italian and published in Grazia.  Literary agent Sandy Dijkstra read the story and offered to serve as her agent. In 1987, Amy went to China for the first time, accompanied by her mother. When she returned home, she learned that she had received several offers based on her submission of three short stories. The resulting book of connected stories,The Joy Luck Club, was hailed as a novel and became a surprise bestseller, spending over forty weeks on The New York Times Bestseller List.  

Her other novels are The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter's Daughter, Saving Fish from Drowning, and The Valley of Amazement, all New York Times bestsellers. She is also the author of two memoirs, The Opposite of Fate and Where the Past Begins: Memory and Imagination, as well as two children’s books, The Moon Lady and Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat. Her essays and stories have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper’s Bazaar, National Geographic, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.  Her essay ”Mother Tongue” was included in Best American Essays 1991, selected by guest editor Joyce Carol Oates.   She is the author of the short story “Rules for Virgins,” published in e-book format (Byliner Original).  Her work has been translated into 35 languages, from Spanish, French, and Finnish to Chinese, Arabic, Estonian, and Hebrew.  

Amy served as co-producer and co-screenwriter with Ron Bass for the film adaptation of "The Joy Luck Club," for which they received WGA and BAFTA nominations. She was the Creative Consultant for "Sagwa," the Emmy-nominated PBS television series for children, which aired worldwide, including in the UK, Latin America, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and Singapore.  Her story in The New Yorker, “Immortal Heart,” was performed on stages throughout the U.S. and in France. Her essays and stories are found in hundreds of anthologies and textbooks, and have been assigned as required reading in many high schools and universities. She was the guest editor for Best American Short Stories 1999. She appears as herself in the episode “Clown Poppy” in the animated series The Simpsons. She is the subject of a documentary Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir, directed by the late James Redford,  which aired on PBS American Masters  and is now available on Netflix. Her class on writing, memory and imagination can be found on MasterClass.  The findings of her ancestry will be revealed in 2025 on the PBS  show Finding Your Roots.  

Amy Tan was  a  finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the International Orange Prize. She is the recipient of many honors, including the Commonwealth Gold Award, the Carl Sandburg Award, the 2024  NYPL Library Lion.  She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, in 2022, and in 2023, President Biden presented her with the National  Humanities Medal.  

Amy has lectured internationally at universities, including Stanford, Oxford, Jagellonium, and Georgetown both in Washington, DC and Doha, Qatar. She did a TED talk on creativity and spoke at the White House,  appeared on the popular NPR program Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me, as well as on Sesame Street, and in the documentary Boomers. The National Endowment for the Arts chose The Joy Luck Club for its inaugural Big Read program in 2007. 

Amy  also wrote the libretto for the opera The Bonesetter’s Daughter, which had its world premiere with the San Francisco Opera in September 2008. Since 1993, she has served as lead rhythm dominatrix, backup singer, and second tambourine with the literary garage band, the Rock Bottom Remainders, whose members include Stephen King, Dave Barry, and Scott Turow.

Amy  serves on the board of American Bird Conservancy, the National Poetry Series, and The Community of Writers.  She lives with her husband and their dog in California and New York.