Prologue. The breaker of combs -- I. Imagination -- A leaky imagination -- Music as muse -- Souvenir from a dream -- Hidden genius -- Reorientation: Homer, Alaska -- II. Memory in emotion -- Genuine emotions -- The feeling of what it felt like when it happened -- A mere mortal at age twenty-five -- A mere mortal at age twenty-six -- How to change fate: step 1 -- III. Retrieving the past -- The unfurling of leaves -- The auntie of the woman who lost her mind -- Unstoppable -- Time and distance: age twenty-four -- Time and distance: age fifty -- Time and distance: age sixty -- IV. Unknown endings -- The darkest moment of my life -- Nipping dog -- The father I did not know -- Reliable witness -- V. Reading and writing -- I am the author of this novel -- How I learned to read -- Splayed poem: the road -- Eidolons -- Letters to the editor -- Letters in English -- Why write? -- VI. Language -- Language: a love story -- Intestinal fortitude -- Principles of linguistics -- Companions in the house

"In Where the Past Begins, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Valley of Amazement Amy Tan reveals herself in a way she never has before, delving into her childhood, adolescence, family history, beginnings as a writer and professional life to explore the answers to questions of purpose and meaning that we all ask ourselves as we get older."--