Book Review: Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan takes a sharp turn from her usual mother-daughter themes to explore cultural misunderstanding, Western privilege, and the line between truth and illusion — all through the lens of dark comedy and surreal adventure.
The novel follows a group of American tourists on a guided art and culture tour through Burma (Myanmar), narrated posthumously by their would-be guide, Bibi Chen. After Bibi’s mysterious death, the group continues the journey without her — only to vanish in the Burmese jungle and be mistaken for religious figures by an isolated tribe.
Tan’s storytelling here is bold and experimental. The choice to have Bibi narrate from beyond the grave adds layers of irony and commentary that underscore the novel’s exploration of perception versus reality. Bibi is a clever, acerbic observer, offering insights into the absurdities of both East and West — and how often one misreads the other.
While Saving Fish from Drowning is more satirical than Tan’s earlier work, it still wrestles with deeply human questions: how do we make meaning out of chaos? How do stories shape our understanding of the world — and how easily can they mislead us?
At times, the novel’s sprawling structure and large cast can feel unwieldy, but Tan’s wit, cultural insight, and philosophical depth make the journey worthwhile. She invites readers to question their assumptions, laugh at their blind spots, and consider the price of good intentions.
Saving Fish from Drowning is part ghost story, part political fable, and part moral inquiry. It’s a departure for Amy Tan — more satirical and surreal than sentimental — but still driven by her trademark intelligence, empathy, and narrative risk-taking.
About Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
San Francisco art patron Bibi Chen has planned a journey of the senses along the famed Burma Road for eleven lucky friends. But after her mysterious death, Bibi watches aghast from her ghostly perch as the travelers veer off her itinerary and get bogged down by cultural gaffes, tribal curses, and romantic desires. On Christmas morning, the tourists cruise across a misty lake and disappear.
With a façade of Buddhist illusions, magician’s tricks, and light comedy, even as the absurd and picaresque spiral into a gripping morality tale, Saving Fish from Drowning deftly explores the consequences of intentions—both good and bad—and the shared responsibility that individuals must accept for the actions of others.
