On Christmas morning, the tourists cruise across a misty lake and disappear.

But after her mysterious death, Bibi watches aghast from her ghostly perch as the travelers veer off her itinerary and embark on a trail paved with cultural gaffes and tribal curses, Buddhist illusions and romantic desires. San Francisco art patron Bibi Chen has planned a journey of the senses along the famed Burma Road for eleven lucky friends. With Tan's many talents on display, it's her idiosyncratic wit and sly observations. Â€œA superbly executed, good-hearted farce that is part romance and part mystery. With the money I receive, I buy more nets so I can save more fishes.Â€œA rollicking, adventure-filled story. I take those dead fishes to market and I sell them for a good price. And because it is evil to waste anything,

'I am saving you from drowning.' Soon enough, the fishes grow calm and lie still. I place the fishes on the bank, where they flop and twirl. I drop my net in the lake and scoop out a hundred fishes. Each day I pledge to save a hundred lives. Through twists of fate, curses, and just plain human error, they find themselves deep in the 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.įilled 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, magician's 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 about the shared responsibility that individuals must accept for the actions of others.Ī pious man explained to his followers: 'It is evil to take lives and noble to save them.

On an ill-fated art expedition into the southern Shan state of Burma, eleven Americans leave their Floating Island Resort for a Christmas-morning tour and disappear. A provocative new novel from the bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter's Daughter.

Saving fish from drowning by amy tan