American Masters

(soft music) -

Man

The Joy Luck Club went right to number one on the bestseller list. -

Man

The Joy Luck Club was so massive when it came out. Everybody loved it. It had such a huge impact on paving the way for other writers of color. My childhood with its topsy turvy emotions has in fact been a reason to write. -

Woman

Auntie Daisy and uncle John were two of the founding members of the Joy Luck Club. It was hard to wrap my head around all the different aspects of auntie Daisy's past. What helped is knowing the story of my grandmother being concubine. I didn't understand until I was an adult, what she meant by sacrifices. We had many, many arguments, and I came home one day, and she was raging and she pushed me and her eyes were glazed in a way they were gone. She was not a tiger mom. She was a suicidal mother. I think it was just an urge. She would never be able to get rid of. -

Man

There you were puffing away. -

Woman

It was part of my decision to not be like her at all. -

Man

Amy really started writing as a mental health break from all of the business work that she was doing. -

Woman

Started to ask her about her life. I would listen to everything. She loved the idea she was helping me to write Curry chicken from takeout. Who are the characters in Amy's work? Her family and people who really have gone through hell and somehow have come out of it. I am not the subject matter of mothers and daughters or Chinese culture. I am a writer compelled by a subconscious neediness to know which is a perpetual state of uncertainty and a tether to the past.