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  • The Joy Luck Club

  • Written by: Amy Tan
  • Narrated by: Gwendoline Yeo
  • Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (82 ratings)

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The Joy Luck Club cover art

The Joy Luck Club

Written by: Amy Tan
Narrated by: Gwendoline Yeo
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Publisher's Summary

Four Chinese women, drawn together by the shadow of their past, meet in San Francisco to play mah jong, invest in stocks, eat dim sum, and to "say" stories to each other. Nearly 40 years later, one of the women has died, and her daughter arrives to take her place. However, the daughter never expected to learn of her mother's secret lifelong wish - and the tragic way in which it has come true. The revelation creates among the women an urgent need to remember the past. What is lost between generations and among friends - and what is salvaged - resonates throughout this novel of friendship among women and the relations between mothers and daughters.

Jacket Illustration ©1989 Gretchen Shields; Copyright ©1989

What the critics say

"Amy Tan effortlessly mixes tenderness and bitter irony, sorrow and slicing wit. The Joy Luck Club is a fabulous concoction." (Louise Erdrich)

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What listeners say about The Joy Luck Club

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A classic

Loved the story a must read you don’t want it to end!!
I recommend it

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Masterful story telling

Shared heritage, family secrets and the cycle of life all play a part in this relatable story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent writing.

this is petty but it really bothered me that in one part of the story the reader gave a Chinese accent to Mr. St Claire accidently. its only one brief part but I checked and double checked an outline of chapters and characters online to be sure. the rest of the time he has an American accent.

some of the voices also bothered me because they were unnecessarily high pitched or deep, like ugly voices for old or poor people. however there are a lot of characters and coming up with different voices for all of them is extremely difficult so I dont want to fault the reader too much for this. her acting and vocal expression were quite good and so this is why I still gave a 4 star rating despite these small annoyances and mistakes.

the story itself is quite masterful.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Worst Narrorator Choice in the History of Ever.

This is the most terrible narration I have ever been subjected to in my life. It's like some anti-asain asain person mocking their family members way of speaking as opposed to telling a story. Every so often she flips to perfect English for a random characters. If this was an attempt to make it immersive it did the absolute opposite. I probably won't even be able to appreciate the story since the narration is so terrible.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Look at life of an Asian woman

Slow story line
Meaningful but superstitious ways of Asian family delved into by author was enlightening.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Bad narration

The narrating of this book ruined the storyline for me. Not long into this story and I already don’t like it.

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