Very good book, even though the story drags a bit at times. An American Chinese woman arranges a trip to Burma for herself and a group of friends. She dies before the trip begins, but accompanies her friends as a ghost. The group gets into trouble, due to their general ignorance and cultural insensitivity. One morning the whole group disappears. Very nice characterizations.

While not Amy Tan's best- It drags but the premise is good and it is different. If you like Amy Tan you will like this novel. I had a hard time with it but I actually love the narrator- Bibi and her sense of humor. I feel like she is truly an "Amy Tan" creation. I am also learning a lot from Bibi's tour guide teaching as well as her perspective on the other chracter's thoughts and ways. BUT I cannot relate to any of the other characters at all nor can I feel for them... so I trudged along with this book for Bibi...

Amy Tan writes a lovely book following a group of friends that take a trip together to Burma. The tour guide has died prior to the trip, but goes along to narrate the book. We hear from the characters in their own words and the narrator tells us the real happenings. Very interesting read... some asian history mixed in to make it exciting and informative.
What really happened to the tour group when they vanished while on an expidition.....

I was disappointed in this book. I've enjoyed Amy Tan's other books, but I really had to "plow" through this one. Never did get into the characters, so really didn't care what happened to them.

I like amy tan and loved this book and almost could not put it down and it was a truthfull and insightfull look at myanmar and they are a very dictorial society from everything I have read . I loved the charecters and I could actually see all of these ppl traveling together and Loved the ending too .

I think I am in the minority in that I really enjoyed the first half of the book, but once the big event happened, I lost interest. I finished it, and I would say that overall it was an interesting book, full of interesting information that I had no idea about.

As far as the characters go, I felt like the narrator (Bibi) deliberately made them unlikeable. Because I honestly didn't really care if they lived or died. Well maybe a little, but I was hoping at least one of them would bite it.

It was a nice read.

I love Amy Tan and have read all of her books. So I ran out and bought this book immediately. This one is a departure from her other books and I just could not get into it. She lost me about half way through and I had no desire to finish. Unfortunately, this book was a big disappointment to me. Save yourself from this book!

I *love* Amy Tan's work and I enjoyed this one, although I found that the crazy plot and action distracted from her usual ethereal, humorous style. Still a good read, though not quite as magical as her others.

The second half of the book is really exciting... the trick is getting there.

An interesting story, but make sure you take notes on who is who at the beginning because there are a lot of personalities to keep track of.

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A bit racist against Myanmar, but hey, I guess it's a hot topic today.

Best Amy Tan ever in my opinion and that's saying a lot. A good, rich, funny, honest, surprising adventure, love story, fantasy. Do yourself a favor and read this one if you've ever enjoyed
Tan.

i enjoyed reading this book.. Its a good mystery set in China. Amy Tan is a great writer.

Awesome imaginative story. Initially a little hard to remember each character, but easier as the story moves on. Long live the ghost of Bibi!

very dissapointing for an Amy Tan fan! I just couldnt get into this one!

Bibi has planned on going on a journey with eleven of her friends. But, then she dies. However, she watches as her friends continue the journey.

From Our Editors
"Each day I pledge to save a hundred lives. I drop my net in the lake and scoop out a hundred fishes. I place the fishes on the bank, where they flop and twirl. 'Don't be scared,' I tell those fishes. 'I am saving you from drowning." Soon enough, the fishes grow calm and lie still. Yet, sad to say, I am always too late." Amy Tan's novel of 11 Americans stranded in Burma possesses the resonance of the fable of the Burmese fisherman. Another compelling fiction by the author of The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter's Daughter.

From the Publisher
A pious man explained to his followers: "It is evil to take lives and noble to save them. Each day I pledge to save a hundred lives. I drop my net in the lake and scoop out a hundred fishes. I place the fishes on the bank, where they flop and twirl. 'Don't be scared,' I tell those fishes. 'I am saving you from drowning.' Soon enough, the fishes grow calm and lie still. Yet, sad to say, I am always too late. The fishes expire. And because it is evil to waste anything, I take those dead fishes to market and I sell them for a good price. With the money I receive, I buy more nets so I can save more fishes." - Anonymous

Twelve American tourists join an art expedition that begins in the Himalayan foothills of China - dubbed the true Shangri-La - and heads south into the jungles of Burma. But after the mysterious death of their tour leader, the carefully laid plans fall apart, and disharmony breaks out among the pleasure-seekers as they come to discover that the Burma Road is paved with less-than-honorable intentions, questionable food, and tribal curses.

And then, on Christmas morning, eleven of the travelers boat across a misty lake for a sunrise cruise - and disappear.

Drawing from the current political reality in Burma and woven with pure confabulation, Amy Tan's picaresque novel poses the question: How can we discern what is real and what is fiction, in everything we see? How do we know what to believe? Saving Fish from Drowning finds sly truth in the absurd: a reality TV show called Darwin's Fittest, a repressive regime known as SLORC, two cheroot-smoking twin children hailed as divinities, and a ragtag tribe hiding in the jungle - where the sprites of disasterknown as Nats lurk, as do the specters of the fabled Younger White Brother and a British illusionist who was not who he was worshipped to be.

With her signature "idiosyncratic, sympathetic characters, haunting images, historical complexity, significant contemporary themes, and suspenseful mystery" (Los Angeles Times), Amy Tan spins a provocative and mesmerizing tale about the mind and the heart of the individual, the actions we choose, the moral questions we might ask ourselves, and above all, the deeply personal answers we seek when happy endings are seemingly impossible.

I always enjoy Amy Tan's books, and this one is no exception!

I started reading it, but just could not finish it.

I loved this book, but I like all of this author's books so far...

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