"The Opposite of Fate: memories of a writing life," by Amy Tan

Sex: 3/5
Language: 2.5/5
Violence: 3/5
Did I love it: 4/5

This is non-fiction and exactly what the title says: a book of Amy Tan's memories. She is the author "The Joy Luck Club," and "The Kitchen God's Wife," just to name a few. This book gives some of the background of what has inspired her novels, and a lot of detail about her personal life. I really loved this book. Her writing is very rich, entertaining, and easy to read. This book had all the necessary components of a good book: I laughed, I cried, and I went "Hmmmmmm."

Sex: This is peppered throughout, usually as a comment here or there, but is not a big theme in the book. Generally, she handles this subject pretty tastefully. There are no graphic sex scenes, or information about her sexual relationships or anything. She refers to the rape of her grandmother. There's a couple crude comments. There is a section where she is talking about the making of the movie "The Joy Luck Club." In that section, she specifically talks about the discussion she had with the other screen writers about the sex scene they were putting into the film, and they make a couple graphic remarks. She talks about dressing up as a Dominatrix, complete with leather whip, for her part as a lead singer in a rock band.

Language: There's not a lot of language, but at least one use of the "F" word.

Violence: There's a description of a friend's murder. She describes a time that her mother threatened to kill her during an argument, and she wasn't sure if she would have. She talks about her mother hitting her during arguments. Her mother often threatens to kill herself. She talks about how her grandmother killed herself by overdosing on opium.