Rules of the Game | Rules of the Game

At a glance:

Author: Amy Tan
First Published: 1986
Type of Plot: Psychological
Time of Work: The 1950's and 1960's
Setting: San Francisco
Principal Characters: Waverly Place Jong, Lindo Jong
Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
Subjects: 1950’s, Girls, 1960’s, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Mothers, Parents and children, California, West, U.S., San Francisco, Pacific Northwest, China or Chinese people, Chinese Americans, Chess or chess players
Locales: San Francisco, CA

The Story

Waverly Place Jong is a chess prodigy living in San Francisco's Chinatown with her Chinese immigrant parents. She is named after “Waverly Place,” her family's address and, therefore, their claim to the United States. Waverly is diminutively nicknamed as “Meimei” (Chinese for “little sister”), whereas her two brothers have resonant, victorious names—Winston and Vincent.

Waverly and her mother, Lindo Jong, have an ongoing psychological battle, each surreptitiously trying to gain the upper hand. Although Waverly was born in the United States, her...

Rules of the Game | Rules of the Game

At a glance:

The Story

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