Amazon.com
Through Anne Lamott's many books (including six novels, her bestselling parenting memoir, Operating Instructions, and her popular guide to writing, Bird by Bird) the subject she keeps returning to is her faith, her deeply personal--"erratic," she says--journey in Christianity. Her latest book, Grace (Eventually), is her third collection of her "thoughts on faith," and she took the time to answer a few of our questions.

Questions for Anne Lamott

Amazon.com: This is your third book on faith. How has your perspective changed since you wrote your first one?

Lamott: I wrote my first book on faith when Bill Clinton was president, and I was in a much better mood. I wrote Plan B during the run-up to war in Iraq, and the ensuing catastrophe, so I was very angry, but trying to reconcile that pain and hostility toJesus's insistence that we are made of love, to love, and be loved, to forgive and be forgiven. Some days went better than others. Also, my son Sam was in his early teens, and that was a LOT easier than when he turned 16 and 17, his ages when I was writing the pieces in Grace (Eventually).

In general, I think Grace (Eventually) is a less angry book. I like how I'm aging, except that my back hurts more often, my knees crack like twigs when I squat, and my memory fails more frequently, in more public and therefore humiliating ways. But I think I complain less. As my best friend said when she was dying, and I was obsessing about my butt, "You just don't have that kind of time."

Amazon.com: What does grace mean for you? How can we better communicate it to each other?

Lamott: Grace is that extra bit of help when you think you are really doomed; also, not coincidentally, when you have finally run out of good ideas on how to proceed, and on how better to control the people or circumstances that are frustrating or defeating you. I experience Grace as a cool ribbon of fresh air when I feel spiritually claustrophobic. Sometimes I experience it as water-wings, something holding me up when I am afraid that I'm going down, or the tide is carrying me away. I know that Grace meets us whereever we are, but does not leave us where it found us. Sometimes it is so small--a couple of seconds relief here, several extra inches there. I wish it were big and obvious, like sky-writing. Oh, well. Grace is not something I DO, or can chase down; but it is something I can receive, when I stop trying to be in charge.

We communicate grace to one another by holding space for people when they are hurt or terrified, instead of trying to fix them, or manage their emotions for them. We offer ourselves as silent companionship, or gentle listening when someone feels very alone. We get people glasses of water when they are thirsty.

Amazon.com: Many of the essays in Grace (Eventually) first appeared in Salon, the online magazine, and that's the way that many readers first found you. How do you see the Internet changing the way people read and write?

Lamott: The Internet makes everything so immediate and spontaneous, which I totally love--UNLESS it has to do with the immediacy of people's negative response to me.Several of the Salon pieces in Grace--for instance, the story about the horrible fight with my son, and the piece about turning the other cheek while being ripped off by The Carpet Guy--generated a couple hundred letters, many of them extremely hostile. Perhaps "spewy" would be a better description. I also sometimes get knee-jerk responses to my mentions of Jesus in my Salon pieces that seem to lump me in the same tradition as Jerry Falwell. But for the most part, I love the populism and egalitarian nature of the Internet: everyone counts the same.

Amazon.com: What stories do people tell you, when they've read your books or know you are a writer?

Lamott: People tell me how relieved they are that I try to tell the truth about how hard it can be to be a mother, or a daughter, or an American in these times. They tell me stories about how awful their own teenagers can be, or how awful they themselves behaved towards their kids or parents; how hard it was to finally be able to adore their mothers, or to forgive their fathers. They tell me their sobriety dates. They whisper to me that they are Christians, too.

Also, they ask if I am able to read their manuscripts, and the name of my agent, and my e-mail address. They ask if we are going to survive the current political difficulties--and I promise them we are. They ask how old my son is now--17 and a half--and how he is doing, which is fantastically, after some of the hard months I wrote about in Grace.

Amazon.com:What lessons do you think you can pass on to others: to your readers, to your son? What lessons does it seem like people have to learn for themselves?

Lamott: All I have to offer is my own truth, my own experience, strength and hope. I can pass on the tool of a God Box, and how for 20 years I have been putting tiny notes in mine and promising God I will keep my sticky fingers off the controls until I hear God's wisdom: sometimes I get an answer because the phone rings, or the mail comes, but at any rate, during every single terrible problem and tragedy, I have been given enough guidance and stamina and even humor to bear up, and be transformed, for the good. I always tell Sam that if you want to make God laugh, tell Her your plans. I tell Sam that if he listens to his best thinking, he will suffer: and to listen to his heart instead, to listen in the silence, and to seek wise counsel.

Amazon.com: You've written nearly a dozen books (including an incredibly popular guide to writing): does writing get any easier? Does it get harder?

Lamott: In a very important way, writing gets easier, because I've been doing it full time now for thirty-plus years, and just as you would get better and better if you practiced your scales on a piano, I've gotten better, and can try harder and harder pieces. But writing is always hard. It does not come naturally to me at all. I sit down at the same time every day, which lets my subconscious realize it's time to get to work. I give myself very short assignments, and let myself write really terrible first drafts. But I grapple with the exact same problems every writer does, which is having equal proportions of self-loathing and grandiosity. I sort of live by the Nike ads: Just Do It. So I sit down. I show up. I do it by pre-arrangement with myself, because I know I'll feel sad and terrible if I shirk on that days writing. I do it as a debt of honor, to myself, and to whatever it is that has given me this gift of being able to tell stories, and to make people laugh. Laughter is carbonated holiness. Other people's good writing is medicine for me, and I hope mine is too, for my readers.

Customer Reviews (46)

Familiar territory
I've read almost everything Lamott's written. I loved Bird by Bird and Traveling Mercies. But Plan B made me think she'd run out of material, and Grace (Eventually) has me convinced. That so much of her work is autobiographical is becoming limiting both thematically and stylistically: I already know what she's going to say.

Grace redux, eventually
I am a long-time Anne Lamott fan, but lately her work has been revisiting (revising?) the same-old, same-old.In her third attempt to tap the well of her developing spirituality, the well has nearly run dry.Most of the experiences she uses to illustrate her ideas are ones that were on the cutting room floor of her last two "faith" books.I recommend "Traveling Mercies," but not this one.

Gracious Indeed
Below is what I wrote for my blog abuot this book.Not quite a formal review but personal isn't necessarily a bad thing.

It is said that there are three things one does not discuss in polite company:sex, religion, and politics.If this is true then Anne Lamott, in her book Grace (Eventually):Thoughts on Faith, is delightfully impolite.If you want to know where she stands on various subjects, sit back and enjoy the ride because she is going to tell you.You'll know whether or not she is pro-life or pro-choice, her feelings about President Bush and the war in Iraq, but mostly you'll learn about Lamott herself.

This book may be about everything and anything but in the end it is about one woman and her relationships.Her relationships with others.Her relationships with her community.Her relationship with her God.And most significantly her relationship with herself.

Lamott, best known for Bird by Bird, writes in a manner that is self-deprecating and sometimes brutal. However, her tone is so gentle and often sardonic and instead of feeling battered by someone's narcissistic need to rape themselves on the page the reader walks away feeling an intimacy with her.Lamott manages to strip herself naked and still feel her blush more than your own.Because of this, the reader not only feels gentle towards her but also towards him/herself.Such a delicate balance is rare to find in essay collections.

On the day that I determined to no longer clutter my life with shelves and shelves of books, a package from my mother arrived in which there was this copy of Lamott's book.I had to laugh at my mother's coincidentally sadistic timing.When I was two thirds through the book I called her to say I was reading it and loving it.She said that she had enjoyed it very much too because Lamott writes the way my mother speaks.I had to laugh again because it is very true.I found myself chuckling over the way Lamott would say something because it did sound familiar and funny to me.

So perhaps I am biased.I may not be able to read Lamott's writing objectively because it is so much like how my mother and I think and speak.I have set the book aside to give to one of two friends--a sort of first come first served basis of reducing my book clutter.Nice try on my mother's part, her attempt at thwarting my plans about which she knew nothing!But she's not winning this time.

Now I just need to read the other books she sent to me . . . and the nearly 2000 others if I hope to get my collection down to a manageable size.

Always a breath of fresh air
This book, like the others, will make you laugh in recognition of the humanity we share. I, of course, really like Anne Lamott's writing.

She has a way of starting a sentence and you feel pretty much like you know where it is going to end up. Surprisingly it ends up somewhere you didn't expect. My fantasy is that somewhere along the way as she is writing the sentence she's been thinking ahead to where the sentence is going. But as she keys along toward the end of the sentence a new word or view pops into her head. It's not just an alternative, it's the essence of the thought. Something that just comes out of the keyboard that is so funny or insightful that you almost gasp in recognition. She's got it, and in doing so she helps you to understand life and your own reactions to what is going on.

The other benefit of reading Anne Lamott is that she gives you so much to think about. I recall a story in a previous book where she is talking about Sam and their relationship. Anne Lamott feels life to the full. Too much of the time, perhaps, she has been telling her son that she loves him. One night at bedtime he asks her to stop saying that. She asks what should she say, and Sam suggests that she likes him would work fine.

So what is the difference between love and like? For the child that Sam is, maybe it's just not repetitive. For me it was an insight that was worth pondering. Love is very much about me, about my feeling for you. Like, on the other hand, is about you: your hair, your personality, your dreams...all of that. Maybe that was in Lamott's head. I don't know. She doesn't tell you. It sure is something to think about though.

What does all this have to do with the new book? If you like Anne Lamott, if she makes you smile at life and the human race, well, this is another good book for you. Read the second chapter about teaching an "energetic" Sunday school class. It's pure Lamott. The answer is always, "Yes." The question is "how."

A Mellower Lamott
I loved Anne Lamott's early work, but in the past years, her animosity and anger, coupled with her unapologetic self-absorption, had scared me off. I picked up this book with the understanding that Lamott had mellowed a bit, and I was happy to find that to be the case. There are still plenty of rants about the minutiae of her everyday life ("I'm breathing in! I'm breathing out!") but there are also some real gems here. If nothing else, she's brutally honest -- even about her own shortcomings. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Few people can write about faith, parenting, and relationships as can the talented, irreverent Anne Lamott. With characteristic black humor, ("Everyone has been having a hard time with life this year; not with all of it, just the waking hours") she updates us on the ongoing mayhem of her life since Traveling Mercies, and continues to unfold her spiritual journey.

Plan B finds Lamott wrestling with mid-life hormones and weight gain while parenting Sam, now a teenager with his own set of raging hormones. Her observations cover everything from starting a Sunday school to grief over the death of her beloved dog, Sadie; lamenting the war to bitterness over her relationship with her now-departed mother.

As she tugs and pokes out the knots in a slender gold chain necklace, it becomes a metaphor for letting go and learning to forgive. "…any willingness to let go inevitably comes from pain; and the desire to change changes you, and jiggles the spirit, gets to it somehow, to the deepest, hardest, most ruined parts." It's her willingness to show us the knotted-up, "ruined parts" of her life that make this collection of sometimes uneven essays so compelling.

"Everything feels crazy," writes Lamott, adding, "But on small patches of earth all over, I can see just as much messy mercy and grace as ever…."Lamott's essays will serve as reminders to readers of the patches of messy mercy and grace in a chaotic world.--Cindy CrosbyBook Description
With Anne Lamott's trademark wisdom, humor and honesty, Plan B is a spiritual antidote to anxiety and despair in our increasingly fraught times. This New York Times bestseller picks up where Traveling Mercies left off.Download Description
With the trademark wisdom, humor, and honesty that made Anne Lamott's book on faith, Traveling Mercies, a runaway bestseller, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith is a spiritual antidote to anxiety and despair in increasingly fraught times. The world is a more dangerous place than it was when Lamott's Traveling Mercies was published five years ago. Terrorism and war have become the new normal; environmental devastation looms even closer. And there are personal demands on Lamott's faith as well: turning fifty; her mother's Alzheimer's; her son's adolescence; and the passing of friends and time. Fortunately for those of us who are anxious and scared about the state of the world, whose parents are also aging and dying, whose children are growing harder to recognize as they become teenagers, Plan B offers hope in the midst of despair. It shares with us Lamott's ability to comfort, and to make us laugh despite the grim realities. Anne Lamott is one of our most beloved writers, and Plan B is a book more necessary now than ever. It will prove to be further evidence that, as The Christian Science Monitor has written, ""Everybody loves Anne Lamott."" ... Read more

Customer Reviews (151)

Anne Lamott Strikes Again
I love Anne Lamott and this book is no exception.As always, she writes with honesty and humor about her everyday experiences.She helps me see the lighter and darker side of Christianity and life in general.I can relate to her foibles and rejoice with her in her human triumphs.I'm glad for Christian writers who I can relate to-not holier than thou, never make a mistake writers.I won't mention names.This book was a blessing.

I love (LOVE) Annie but...
I adore this woman for her faith, her wit and her unbelievable ability to keep on "keepin on" but the politics in this book just about drove me over the edge. I know, I know... to love Annie is to expect her political rantings. I kept reading and I did gleam little nuggets here or there of the Annie I know & love. It was worth the read, if only I could fast forward some of the politic heavy chapters.

Anne is back
Anne Lamott is back in all of her glorious humor, angst, and wisdom. If you haven't discovered Anne yet, she is shock therapy for those of us who learned how to be religious before we learned how to be human.

In Traveling Mercies, Anne shared her crooked journey through alcoholism, bulimia, and broken relationships to a connection with St. Andrews Presbyterian Church and Jesus. Now, in Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, Anne shares the new challenges to her faith: The Bush Administration, her aging mother, menopause, the losing friends to illness, teaching Sunday School, and raising her teen-aged son, Sam. While many of her crises in Plan B are stock milestones of middle age they are no less poignant when rendered by Anne's pen.

Anne's power comes from her unflinching authenticity, a scarce quality in the self-serving industry of memoir writing. Anne describes her life has it happens, without bothering to airbrush away her neurotic impulses and imperfections. Her self-depreciating humor and honesty creates a picture of spirituality reminiscent of Dostoevsky; we are all simultaneously noble and depraved. As I read Plan B, I laughed with Anne at her foibles and became more honest about my own.

Anne Lamott, along with Fredrick Buechner, might be the best living Christian Author that you can't find at a Christian book store. Anne elevates cursing to a literary art form. More significantly, Anne is openly pro-choice and pro-gay rights. She addresses God as a feminine being. Some readers might balk at her left-wing politics.However, I'd challenge any reader to see Anne as more than the sum of her politics and ideas. Reading anything by Anne Lamott creates the opportunity to remember that God wills and works through your bad attitudes, flawed character, and humanity. Wading through Anne's positions is worth any personal risk you might feel. Encountering her writing style is a joyous experience and you'll bump into God's grace as often as you will step in piles of human frailty.

Anne is back and triumphant.

Could not get past the venom
Traveling Mercies ranks as one of my favorites.Though my political viewpoint is quite different from the authors, her insights that illustrate how you could work around your own bias and experience the holy in your own human failings was totally up my alley.

I was sorely disappointed by the venom that whacks you upside the head shortly after opening the book.I guess loving your neighbor as yourself only applies to those folks whose politics are not too far off from your own.

I had to get it returned before it tainted my love of her other books.If it were not for those other writings I would have rated this book NO stars!I pray that her next offering will be more about faith than hate.

Anne Lamott is tops!
Refreshing, honest, and a lyric writer, Anne Lamott is a wonderful discovery. These three books, "Traveling Mercies," "Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith", and "Grace (Eventually) Thoughts On Faith" are the best books I've read all year! I don't think it matters if you are Christian or not, because her books are about her journey from alcoholism and drug addiction, to a discovery of a God of unconditional Love that speaks to everyone.

Wonderful, exhilarating stories and writing! ... Read more

Book Description
With generosity, humor, and pathos, Anne Lamott takes on the barrage of dislocating changes that shook the Sixties. Leading us through the wake of these changes is Nanny Goodman, one small girl living in Marin County, California.

A half-adult child among often childish adults, Nanny grows up with two spectacularly odd parents-a writer father and a mother who is "a constant source of material." As she moves into her adolescence, so, it seems, does America. While grappling with her own coming-of-age, Nanny witnesses an entire culture's descent into drugs, the mass exodus of fathers from her town, and rapid real-estate and technological development that foreshadow a drastically different future.

In All New People, Anne Lamott works a special magic, transforming failure into forgiveness and illuminating the power of love to redeem us. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

All New People
The book was very similar to Lamotts Travelin Mercies....only fictionalzed. It was sad and sweet and in some parts you were left kind of hanging...not sure what was meant or felt. Then again, Anne Lamott does that to you. She challenges you to branch out in your way of thinking. It was a good read.

Not Traditional Anne, but Still Good.
This book is somewhat different than Lamott's other work, but I still enjoyed it thoroughly. It is about a girl named Nanny and her family and the sixties. It reads like a memoir, and my guess is it has very much basis in the reality that is the author's life. The narration has a very stream-of-consciousness feel to it, and covers a lot for such a quick read. I loved the way of storytelling--Nanny tells the story straight through the emotional center of the things that happen. Anyone who ever had a childhood will enjoy everything in this book. Even if that childhood wasn't in the sixties.

Anne, You're da bomb!!!
I've read all of Anne's books and this one is as good as or better than the best.Anne is the Queen of all writers of all time!Nobody does it better.She has a sense of humor like no other woman I've ever known, and it shines through in this book.The line from which the title comes is suberb---and now a part of our family lingo."In a hundred years, all new people!"I love it!!!Thanks, Anne, for sharing your sparkling wit and unique family with us. I can't wait to read your new one coming out this year, "Blue Shoe".

Thinly Disguised Nonfiction
I've read all Lamott's nonfiction and fallen in love with her wit, honesty, and spiritual searching.I approached this first fictional experience wondering if her personality and style would show through.The answer: Yes.

I couldn't help but feel I was reading one of Lamott's nonfiction pieces, actually recognizing characters, quotes, and anecdotes from her own life.This is inevitable in any fiction, I suppose, but Anne's style is so unique and strong that it was somewhat distracting to me.

I do intend to try another of her fictional works--I'll read anything of hers I can get my hands on.She is poignant without being melodramatic, funny without being insulting.I love Lamott's writing; in general, though, I think I prefer to read her real life experiences.

Anne Lamott is amazing!
I think that Anne Lamott is one of the most amazing writers of our time! I have read everything she has ever written, both fiction and non-fiction and have always eagerly awaited her next book! I only wish that Oprah would discover her and then the rest of the world can find out what they have been missing! I know Anne has a devoted, loyal following but she deserves to be a best-selling author! All New People was the first book of Anne's that I read and I discovered it completely by accident when I picked it up in the bookstore one day. Her characters are so real and funny and ALL of her books ALWAYS make me laugh and cry! I feel as if I know her characters and her as well. I have recommended her books to all the readers I know and I hope EVERYONE reads her books someday! Anne,your books are wonderful ! ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (25)

Anne doesn't disappoint
I'll admit, I'm a huge Anne Lamott fan, but this was the only book of hers that I hadn't read until now (I know, I'm about 20 years late). But I wasn't let down, even though it was her first published novel.

I've had my share of family medical scares, including one of my own, and it was amazing at how dead-on Anne illustrates the emotions that people go through in times of crisis. My family is similar to the one in the book, in that we truly exercise the "laughter is the best medicine" mantra. But sometimes you just can't laugh at the face of a horrible disease like cancer ... and sometimes you have to just to survive. That's what this book is all about.

Some people might read this and think, "What was the point?" I read it and thought, "Wow. Anne just gets human emotion and writes about it superbly." This book is basically a commentary about life and death, why bad things happen to good people, etc., told through stories about the family in the book, and it's very autobiographical.

It's not my favorite Lamott book, but it's definitely at the top of the list.

She makes me laugh
I had missed reading this book by Lamott for some reason and when I saw it on the front cover of her new book ordered it to catch up.I am so glad I did as the insights are so fun and even though the material is heavy and my life is "heavy" right now...I find a smile on my face and some laugh outloud moments....I am so glad I ordered the book and dove right into it's story.

good but light
Great light reading for late at night. Some good gems, examples; "I knew by 10 years old that life would be happier if only I were quite stupid and devoutly religious.." or, "Happy work is as gratifying as sex or hard laughter or love or good drugs." Or about boys, "I wonder if they will grow up to be adult males who are led by their penises and wallets, or if, at thirty, they will visit sad friends." And, "Your looks start to go about the time you start growing up, about the time things are starting to gel.."

love the brutal honesty
How could anyone not love this book (and the author)?!?Never have I read such a brutally honest account of ones life.Anne Lamott's writing is so refreshly sincere.All believers in Christ should rally around Ms. Lamott and encourage her to continue to bare her naked soul to the rest of the world.I read reviews that said she was irreverent, which if you read with a closed mind you may find this to be so, but I found her to be a REAL person, who realizes she is simply saved by God's grace and by nothing she's done on her on.I would encourage everyone to read this book, with and open mind and heart, and check your judgemental mind at the door.Keep it up Anne!

laughter to match the times
With a father recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, a significant other who is hardly significant, and a neurotic dream consultant for a best friend, it seems hard to believe that Jennifer, the main character of Anne Lamott's book, could find anything to laugh about.And yet, as the title suggests, she not only finds some hard laughter in the situation, but also realizes that laughter is, in fact, one of the things that makes life worth the struggle.Whether or not you're of a mind to appreciate Lamott's neurotic humor, that realization--the preciousness and beauty of laughter in the face of the darkest times--alone makes this book worth reading.True to the terrible mundacity of tragic life events, Lamott's book subtly and deftly captures the experience of a family's brush with a potentially devastating situation--the waiting, the disappointment, the embarassment--the laughter in hard times and the good hard laughter in spite of those times that carries you through. ... Read more

Book Description
In Anne Lamott’s wise and witty novel, the growing pains of motherhood are portrayed with rare humor and honesty. If Elizabeth Ferguson had her way, she’d spend her days savoring good books, cooking great meals, and waiting for the love of her life to walk in the door. But it’s not a man she’s waiting for, it’s her daughter, Rosie—her wild-haired, smart-mouthed, and wise-beyond-her-years alter ego. With Rosie around, the days aren’t quite so long, but Elizabeth can’t keep the realities of the world at bay, and try as she might, she can’t shield Rosie from its dangers or mysteries. As Rosie grows older and more curious, Elizabeth must find a way to nurture her extraordinary daughter—even if it means growing up herself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

Excellent Writing, Dull Story
I purchased the book because of the promise on the back cover, "As Rosie grows older and more curious, Elizabeth must find a way to nurture her extraordinary daughter - even if it means growing up herself."

I kept waiting to get to the part where Elizabeth grows up, but that isn't what the book is about at all. The book is about an alcoholic who never grows up, although she does stop drinking at the very end.

Disturbing
I realize Anne Lamont is an excellent author but this book I found to be extremely disturbing,actually to the point of several times putting the book down and trying to get it off my mind,but she is successful in making one reading it to the end.I did not have any sympathy for Elizabeth in this book,was enthralled with Rosie,and felt heartache for a child to have to endure the pangs of an alcoholic mother. I am sorry I read this book.

ANNE LAMOTT'S "ROSIE"
This is a great book..funny, but pulls at your heartstrings. Read it before you might read "Crooked Little Heart". It is kind of a sequel.

okay
This book had a lot wrong with it but it still pulled me into it and I ended up staying up late to finish it so it had a lot right with it too. Basically Lamott has great character insight and can keep a story rolling.The main character is recently widowed and raising a young girl (Rosie) alone. We are privileged to know of all her failings and neurosis which are amazingly easy to identify with.

A gentle book.
Rosie is indeed one of my favorite characters in all of literature; she is fiercely independent, charming, funny, and Lamott has written her well (as well as the other folks in this book), inclusive of all human foibles.This book, as many of Lamott's do, is abundantly filled with love and a gentle understanding of what makes us all tick.This is one of those books that it does my soul good to read each year, as if I am visiting old friends with whom I can laugh and cry. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (9)

good but not best
I am an avid Anne LaMott reader.The commentator who said they were off to read ROSIE will NOT be disappointed.That is an extraordinary book.Although I enjoyed these characters they didn't have the usual depth of LaMott's characters.They were all full of flaws, yes, but I didn't actually believe how they felt about each other.And I could find little in me that even liked Joe Jones.I would've rather seen Louise in a book all by herself.Anyway - I am not swayed from my love of LaMott and her work but this wasn't my fave and I certainly don't reccommend it to forst time readers of her work.Do not stop go - go directly to ROSIE.

It's a wonderful book, another gem for the collection
In the introduction, Lamott thanks Jane Vanderburgh(sp?) for lending an editing hand to Joe Jones, published a long time ago.Having read the original and liked its quirky, flawed movements, I am now absolutely savoring this rewrite.It is a full novel, rounded and studded with unforgettable characters like the elderly Jessie (the car driving scene - the long one - isi sidesplittingly funny), the romantic but wise Lou, and of course the charming and lovely young Willie, whom we all know out there somewhere, the eternal boy-man.Oh it's all pure delight. Fey to the naysayers!A perfect read for the intelligent reader who doesnt need a Hollywood plot or a pat ending.I will not,howvever, be satisfied until Anne writes a sequel to Rae's character in Rosie.We need the Rae book, Annie!We honestly do.All hail Lamott, writer for women (and men)who think.

Imperfect world -
Anne Lamott captures imperfect people in our imperfect world beautifully in this novel.Readers who think Lamott has left them bereft of plot aren't paying attention.The title character's imperfections construct the plot for us.This books is about loving someone despite it all.
Joe Jones is flawed, and does not realize his shortcomings, making those that genuinely care about him the central characters.I found great strength and hope in Louise - she was more physically and spiritually beautiful by the end of this novel than I ever expected.Louise also teaches us by example.Faith and inner strength are not attributes bestowed one time that last forever.They falter, need to be replenished, and are questioned daily, hourly for each of us.I think we forget that sometimes.
I always find guidance in Lamott's writings - snippets and phrases that bolster me and comfort me."Joe Jones" is no different - the memorable phrase from this being "It's just so time-consuming being me."

Dissappointed at best
After reading Bird by Bird and Operating Instructions, I was thrilled to start on Joe Jones.
I've been terribly dissapointed by a flimsy beginning, void of storyline. I've labored through the belly of the book and now find myself wondering whether I'll ever finish it. (doubtful)
I still have faith in Anne Lammott so I'll be trying out "Rosie"... it's hard to imagine that the writer who put out Bird by Bird and made me think and wonder and laugh out loud could have written this boring story where none of the characters mean a thing to me.
oh well I guess we're all entitled to bad moments. My advice? don't read this one if you appreciate her work, it might put you off her completely.

A painful read
I had just read my first book from this author entitled "All new people" and had loved it when I picked this book up. I hated it. I didn't even finish it. I kept waiting for something to happen and nothing much ever did. I kept reading it thinking that even if nothing happened I would get involved with the characters and cherish the description of their everyday lives but that didn't happen. The writing was just too abstract and.... weird. The characters had some off-kilter characteristics about them that should have been lovable but I just didn't find endearing. Things weren't explained that should have been explained and things that I didn't care about were expanded upon. I was very disappointed since I loved the first book of hers that I had read but I will read others from this author to see if this is the exception or the rule. Overall, an extremely tough book to even start, much less finish. ... Read more

Amazon.com
The most honest, wildly enjoyable book written about motherhood is surely Anne Lamott's account of her son Sam's first year. A gifted writer and teacher, Lamott (Crooked Little Heart) is a single mother and ex-alcoholic with a pleasingly warped social circle and a remarkably tolerant religion to lean on. She responds to the changes, exhaustion, and love Sam brings with aplomb or outright insanity. The book rocks from hilarious to unbearably poignant when Sam's burgeoning life is played out against a very close friend's illness. No saccharine paean to becoming a parent, this touches on the rage and befuddlement that dog sweeter emotions during this sea change in one's life.Book Description
It’s not like she’s the only woman to ever have a baby. At thirty-five. On her own. But Anne Lamott makes it all fresh in her now-classic account of how she and her son and numerous friends and neighbors and some strangers survived and thrived in that all important first year. From finding out that her baby is a boy (and getting used to the idea) to finding out that her best friend and greatest supporter Pam will die of cancer (and not getting used to that idea), with a generous amount of wit and faith (but very little piousness), Lamott narrates the great and small events that make up a woman’s life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (147)

Laughed & Cried with the Highs & Lows
I've always loved Anne's books and this one is no exception. I can relate to her writings in so many ways...our humanity, quirkiness and waywardness. However "Operating Instructions" had one special ingredient: raw reality....as a new mother. Her writings of her moment-to-moment, day-to-day adventures as a first time mom made me feel as though I was right there with her as she delighted, struggled, laughed and cried her way through her son's first year. She often brings up stuff that other people wouldn't dare mention, yet we all know exists and most likely have been through ourselves. This one had me laughing throughout, as well as perplexed, shocked, and saddened at times. I hope she writes another "journal" type book. I loved this one.

Excellent Chain Sharpener
For commercial-like sharpening of chainsaw teeth you can't beat this piece of equipment. It is easy to put together and install either on the wall or a bench.Adjustments are not difficult to make but it does take some time figuring out exactly how to do both sets of teeth.The chain holder has to be moved from 30 degrees on one side to 30 degrees on the other and the chain turned around.The sharpener is really amazing.My neighbors come over regularly now to have me sharpen their saws.

Excellent value.It straightens out damage we do to our saws by sharpening them in the field with a rat-tail file.

spot on skewering (and adoring) of new parenthood
My step-mother gave me this book when my first born was three months old.I read it on an old grey chair in a yellow apartment in Denmark during bouts of breast-feeding, and sobbed and sobbed.I sobbed in the places where her writing broke my heart and sobbed from laughter and sobbed from being understood, just like that, by this woman a continent away.

I give this book now to my friends, three months in to new parenthood.As soon as I hear of a pregnancy I say "oh, I have something for you.But not yet..."It so perfectly captures with humour and affection those moments that are unimaginable until you experience them, with delight and bewilderment, for yourself.

It is a humourous, loving, stark, amazing read.

Hilarious
I give this book to anyone I know who is expecting their 1st child.It is a candid memoir of the author's pregnancy and her first year of life with her son.Touching, candid, and very hilarious it is indeed a book of operating instructions and good insight to first time parents.

conservatives, beware
I just had my first baby (an amazing boy) & started reading this after he was born.I would not recommend for mothers, since the author drones on endlessly about her fears for her son.This only puts the same thoughts in the readers minds, things which never would have occurred to me before.I would also discourage anyone from reading this who is the slightest bit conservative.The author goes on and on about her hatred for Republicans and especially George Bush.She seems more interested in pushing a liberal agenda and teaching her son about fear and hatred than writing a good memoir.I found that part quite offensive, regardless of my political opinions.The only good thing I can say about this book is that it inspired me to write down my own observations, thoughts and feelings for my beloved baby boy, so that made it worthwhile. ... Read more

Amazon.com
At 13, Rosie plays a gangly, pigeon-toed second fiddle to her juicy, sexy friend Simone. The two are junior tennis champs who often cart home trophies. But driven by the gnawing fear that she's a loser, Rosie starts to cheat. Meantime, boy-crazy Simone dabbles in off-court disaster. Up in the bleachers a weird loner named Luther obsessively follows Rosie's games, while at home her mother wrestles her own demons. Anne Lamott (Operating Instructions) has turned in a fair depiction of the blood and bones of adolescence that's thankfully leavened by sharp humor and transcendent moments. The novel is uneven and heavy-handed at times, but often rewarding.Book Description
With the same winning combination of humor and honesty that marked her recent nonfiction bestsellers, Operating Instructions and Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott's new novel gives us an exuberant, richly absorbing portrait of a family for whom the joys and sorrows of everyday life are magnified under the glare of the unexpected.

Rosie Ferguson, in the first bloom of young womanhood, is obsessed with tournament tennis. Her mother is a recovering alcoholic still grieving the death of her first husband; her stepfather, a struggling writer, is wrestling with his own demons. And now Rosie finds that her athletic gifts, once a source of triumph and escape, place her in peril, as a shadowy man who stalks her from the bleachers seems to be developing an obsession of his own.

Crooked Little Heart asks big questions in intimate ways: What keeps a family together? What are the small heartbreaks that tear at the fabric of our lives? What happens to grief when it goes underground? And what road must we walk with our flawed and crooked hearts?

Brilliantly written, inhabited by superbly realized characters, funny and human and wonderfully suspenseful, Crooked Little Heart is Anne Lamott writing at the peak of her considerable powers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (61)

"Crying withheld feels sometimes like dying..."
I really loved this book, mostly because I could empathize with Rosie's middle school angst and insecurites. But I also admire (and envy) Lamott's writing in general - she creates beautiful phrases such as "it was so hot that the only things moving outside were the crickets and the anorexics" and "the sun smelled warm, like laundry in the dryer, like melting yellow crayons." Her writing startles me sometimes, so I have to stop and reread.I would never think to associate melting yellow crayons with the sun, for example...but the comparison makes perfect sense.

Simone, Rosie's best friend, wasn't one of my favorite characters at first, but her story turned out to be heartbreaking, and I was genuinely sad for her. I can still see her sitting on the bench with Rosie, waiting for Jason. Collapsed dreams, humiliation, and the double standard all follow - as usual, the male is not castigated by society. The male is not kicked out of the country club.

I liked Rae, Rosie's mom's best friend, the successful artist. When teased for her religious views, I was so proud of Rosie for defending her, reminding everyone that America "was founded on the principle of religious freedom," and no one should trivialize a woman's deepest feelings.

I also liked Luther, the mysterious observer at the tennis tournaments. I thought he was creepy at first, but he paid attention to Rosie when no one else did (her mother might be spacing out as she retreats into the past, and her stepfather might be checking his messages). Luther helped her, was there for her, so Rosie was never alone during a game.

"Too bad about the hair.." - when Rosie's coach said this to her (upon seeing Rosie's newly shorn head), it only confirmed my belief that he's sexist, that his voice echoes a society which regards hair as something that defines women, gives them value, forms stereotypes.Alas, Simone had glorious hair, and look what happened to her...her value appeared to decline in the end.

When a woman chops off most of her hair, it is one of the most liberating things in the world. I wish I'd gotten rid of mine when I was Rosie's age, instead of waiting until I was 24.

Growth experience for mother & daughter
This is a wonderful sequel to "Rosie" by LaMott, but stands well on its own. It's a "coming of age" genre.

Kept thinking it would get better...It didn't.
It took me about 6 weeks to finish this book.I usually finish a book I like in about 2-3 days, but I just couldn't get into this one.I kept thinking it would get better...It didn't.I read one other Anne Lamott novel and never finished it.Since so many readers had raved about this book, I decided to keep reading to see why it was so highly praised.The other reason I kept reading was because it seemed like there was something dark in Elizabeth's past that was lurking and waiting to come to the surface, but I didn't feel like this ever really got explained.It seemed like the storyline kept building up and up, and then just sort of fizzled out.I sort of cared about Rosie, more toward the end then at any other time.I barely cared (if at all) about her mother, Elizabeth.There were some good descriptions and some wonderfully poetic passages, but they didn't make up for the lack of care that I felt for the characters.I cared more about the supporting characters (Lank, Rae, and Charles) than I did about the developed main characters.I really disliked some of the comparisons/similes that the author made; especially the ones about likening the characters to birds.Since I tried to read two Anne Lamott books and didn't like either of them, maybe I just don't like her writing in general.From the looks of many of these comments, she seems to have lots of fans that love her writing!I'm just not one of them.

Lovely story
A rather heartwarming novel of adolescence, grief, sexual awakening, and tennis set in the Bay Area of California.

Beautifully written, but just not to my taste
After a slow start, I gradually fell in like with the writing style and people in this coming-of-age novel. I say "in like" because I have discovered I'm not overly partial to character-driven novels. Still, Lamott writes gorgeous descriptive sentences and uses lovely similes. Her grasp on the dynamics of a blended family and the social pressures on modern teenage girls seems effortless and without artifice.

It's a nice piece of work and well worth reading. It's just not to my taste.
... Read more

Product Description
Some Instructions on Writing and LifeAmazon.com
Think you've got a book inside of you? Anne Lamott isn't afraid to help you let it out. She'll help you find your passion and your voice, beginning from the first really crummy draft to the peculiar letdown of publication. Readers will be reminded of the energizing books of writer Natalie Goldberg and will be seduced by Lamott's witty take on the reality of a writer's life, which has little to do with literary parties and a lot to do with jealousy, writer's block and going for broke with each paragraph.Marvelously wise and best of all, great reading. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (281)

What my niece said
I gave this book to my niece, a sometimes aspiring writer.This is what she wrote me
Dear Aunt
Thank you so much for the book.I am savoring it.I cannot recall a time when I have ever read this slowly and put so much thought into every word.The style is easy to read, but I love how there can be so much depth to the simplest sentence.I also love her attitude.Sometimes, it goes right along with mine.I have not started trying to write yet.I want to finish and hear everything she has to say about the subject.I love that it is not all glorified and wonderful.I actually feel like I am getting to be a pupil in her writing class (for free!)

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Needed this book for a college class, it came it great condition just like the seller discribed. Received by projected date.

Funky Manual
This is a funky manual for fiction writers.It is short, easy to read, delightful and useful.It should be read by wannabe writers.The chapters on character and on looking around should probably be read by wannabe writers weekly.

Emotionally Satisfying from Cover to Cover
I get frustrated sometimes when I have to sit down and grab my pen, open my journal, and place the tip of the ink device to the paper, scribbling away word after word after word.This process, commonly known as writing, frustrates me, yet I can't get away from it--I love it.It is my passion, my escape from reality, and one of the blessings I believe God has bestowed upon me.
As a writer, Anne Lamott touched my heart in more ways than one.This book was unbelievably beautiful, from page to page, and kept me from putting it down.As a college student, I believe it was also a very crucial time in my life to have read this book, as I'm still refining my own writing skills.I believe I was meant to write this book in this moment of my life, but also believe that anyone can read at any time in their lives.
No, I retract that statement: everyone SHOULD read this book during their lifetime, even if they're not a writer; even if they loathe the art of sentence production.
Not only does this book appeal to writers especially, but anyone whose heart has feeling, which is, virtually, everyone.

Great Motivator!
This is a wonderful, hilarious book!It actually managed to get me the tiniest bit excited to work on a scientific paper.Her advise to get you to start writing and let go of that initial perfectionism that can paralyze you is great! Thanks Anne! ... Read more

Amazon.com
For most writers, the greatest challenge of spiritual writing is to keep it grounded in concrete language. The temptation is to wander off into the clouds of ethereal epiphanies, only to lose readers with woo-woo thinking and sacred-laced clichés. Thankfully, Anne Lamott (Operating Instructions, Crooked Little Heart) knows better. In this collection of essays, Lamott offers her trademark wit and irreverence in describing her reluctant journey into faith. Every epiphany is framed in plainspoken (and, yes, occasionally crassly spoken) real-life, honest-to-God experiences. For example, after having an abortion, Lamott felt the presence of Christ sitting in her bedroom:

This experience spooked me badly, but I thought it was just an apparition born of fear and self-loathing and booze and loss of blood. But then everywhere I went I had the feeling that a little cat was following me, wanting me to reach down and pick it up, wanting me to open the door and let it in. But I knew what would happen: you let a cat in one time, give it a little milk and then it stays forever.

Through the hard-won wisdom that forms the core of her beliefs, and with wit, insight, and lots of heart, she shows us how she creates a life balance of connectedness and liberation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (303)

A Book that Resonates
Anne Lamott writes with tremendous vulnerability and sincerity. She opens her veins for us and spills the contents of her life onto the page--the good, the bad, and the very very ugly. Her words are raw and evocative.

I must say that while this book resonates with many people, including myself, who have been hurt by life, disillusioned by the church, and a bit angry at things, I did not come away feeling closer to any tangible answers. I didn't think her crass and vulgar language added much to her message.It was kindof distracting, and I felt like taking a shower after wading through it.

My generation is craving something more--something deeper. We want real answers for real problems. While I continue to read Lamott, I would not say this is her best work.

Shameless plug--check out my new book Sex, Sushi, and Salvation: Thoughts on Intimacy, Community, and Eternity

Close to the bone
Brutally honest, endearingly quirky, funny as the dickens, and turning on dimes to catch a reader's heart by surprise. This little volume is a treasure. From discussion of her formative years and early losses, through alcoholism and on into single parenting, Lamott holds nothing back. Her prayers, her curses, her neuroses, her blessings, are all laid out for inspection. Through it, despite her admitted self-absorption and bottomless fears, wisdom born of close attention and contemplation leaps off the page. More than once the reflected brightness lit up parts of my own life and character and motives that suddenly seemed to have lain too long in the dark. Breezy and deep are not two words I would commonly apply to the same essay. Here they fit.

Part of my spiritual journey
An "in the trenches" view of spirituality that puts a human face on her version of Christianity.Don't mistake this for a run-of-the-mill "God squad" inspirational or How-To book: It is a powerful narrative of spiritual enlightenment that would be good for anyone to read.I am not a Christian nor do I subscribe to any specific religion -- frankly I'm more likely to be Agnostic as anything else -- but this book was a powerful and important read for me and part of my spiritual journey.

Poignant journey of discovery
Lamott's Traveling Mercies takes the reader along on her journey of self-discovery and search for faith.A touching, wonderful, thought provoking story.

Mercy on Us
This is one of my favorite books, and I've read it many times. The essay on Forgiveness is a classic. I'm not sure how Annie Lamott makes fundamentalist Christianity palatable, but she manages to convey a deep sense of faith and gratitude along with a quirky charming wit about it all -- especially about herself. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Loved It
Just what I needed to refocus and prioritize after 20 years in the same job.This was an instant sabbatical for me.Gave me the energy boost I needed to move forward.

a better way to challenge yourself!
This book is fantastic in pushing us all to our very limits, posing the best of the best "what if" questions, and ecouraging us to act on them!So much fun to read, dream, and answer with action-- what would you do if you had no fear???

What would You do I you had no fear?
A light delightful read that offers hope to those who feel caught in a life of few choices. It's a basic follow-your-heart advice manual which also questions how much one depends on money for happiness.

Inspiration: yes; Substance: no
A magazine article prompted me to buy this book. Conway's humor's engaging, and the anecdotes are inspiring. But the book stops there.

Each section is headed with an aspect of the title's question:

*What would you do [if you had no fear]?
*Who would you be [if you had no fear]?
*Where would you go [if you had no fear]?

Your answers are likely to be:
...I would do/make/be/write/create ____, if I had ____.
...I would go to ____, except that I don't have _____.
...I would be a ____, if I'd ever gotten to ____ like I wanted to, all those years ago before ____.

And you are left hanging with your answers. Conway does inspire you to rekindle your desires, but she doesn't help you deal with the rationalizations standing in your way.

[For that, honestly, I'd suggest Laura Berman Fortgang's "Living Your Best Life."]

Conway often alludes to what occurs in her seminars. So the reader (or at least this reader) is left to wonder whether the seminars have the same content as the book, or whether they have more meat to them--and if so, why isn't that in this book?

Inspirational!
This book gives hope and inspiration to many who wish to change or break through a fear.I enjoyed every story and could in some way relate to them all. Ms. Conway has a refreshing and witty way of writing and look forward to her next book!! I recommend this as a gift to someone that needs a little boost. ... Read more

Book Description
Here is an opportunity to listen in on fascinating conversations with people who found God when they didn't really want to and weren't even looking. Through a series of deeply personal interviews with individuals from different walks of life, the authors conduct a captivating discourse on discovering a "higher power." The interview subjects are not proselytizers, nor are they interested in comparing spiritual states. Their stories are neither tidy nor definitive. What they offer, however, is a remarkable, refreshing, and ultimately satisfying mosaic on the meaning and manifestation of God. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not what I expected
This book is not written by Anne Lamont.It has a FORWARD (2 pages) by Anne Lamont.I found the focus of the book to be on recovery, which is a kind of spirituality, but not something that works for everybody.Didn't work for me.

Not Preachy at All
I spent the day in my backyard reading, meditating, and enjoying the breeze.I found this book just the ticket to inspire my own thoughts and dialogues with God.I was not a disbeliever...I'd just lost my relationship somewhere along life's journey.My shoulders were exhausted from carrying the load myself, but I wasn't sure how to re-connect with God so he can help carry the load.Somehow today...I managed to do just that.

This book doesn't preach.

It is what it is.A book of interviews w/ various people who have managed to connect w/ God after all kinds of odds.

It's poetic in nature and I found myself cheering with several featured writers as I identified with their challenges and triumphs.

If you're not sure where to turn, if the church seems like a waste of time, or you just want to listen to someone else's life for awhile...give this book a glance.I read it cover to cover in one day...and it helped me change my outlook on many things in my own life. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Geneen Roth estimates that she's gained and lost more than 1,000 pounds during her life. That makes her uniquely qualified to write this, her sixth book, which delivers exactly what its subtitle indicates: 50 Ways to Feel Thin, Gorgeous, and Happy (When You Feel Anything But). It's sure to appeal to her considerable cult of readers who've bought her other feel-good, anti-diet books including the bestselling When Food Is Love: Exploring the Relationship Between Eating and Intimacy and Why Weight?: A Guide to Ending Compulsive Eating. It's for the estimated 25 million women in America alone who are on diets; for those who find that they're never happy because they delay gratification ("I'll be happy when I lose 10 pounds"), and those who punish themselves for eating one too many chocolate chip cookies.

Roth's advice is simple, but often beyond the realm of thinking of someone obsessed with calorie counting. She recommends that you eat at least one hot meal every day, as a slice of hot pizza will make you feel more full than a cold and cardboardy one will; that you should do one "exquisitely kind" thing for yourself every day, be it buying new underwear or taking a sledgehammer to your scale; and that you should "separate the desire to be thin from the desire to be cherished." She also gives straight diet advice that can't be found in publications along the lines of Cosmo: "Too much fat makes you fat. But too little makes you fat, too, because you usually make up for eating nonfat foods by eating twice as much. I suggest you allow yourself to eat enough fat to feel full. Part of the reason that many of us feel as if we could start eating at one end of our kitchens and chomp our way clear across the United States is that we never give ourselves permission to feel full without feeling guilty, to eat enough fat when it's not on a binge." Amen. --Erica JorgensenBook Description
Geneen Roth estimates that she's gained and lost more than 1,000 pounds during her life. That makes her uniquely qualified to write this, her sixth book, which delivers exactly what its subtitle indicates: 50 Ways to Feel Thin, Gorgeous, and Happy (When You Feel Anything But). It's sure to appeal to her considerable cult of readers who've bought her other feel-good, anti-diet books including the bestselling When Food Is Love: Exploring the Relationship Between Eating and Intimacy and Why Weight?: A Guide to Ending Compulsive Eating. It's for the estimated 25 million women in America alone who are on diets; for those who find that they're never happy because they delay gratification ("I'll be happy when I lose 10 pounds"), and those who punish themselves for eating one too many chocolate chip cookies. Roth's advice is simple, but often beyond the realm of thinking of someone obsessed with calorie counting. She recommends that you eat at least one hot meal every day, as a slice of hot pizza will make you feel more full than a cold and cardboardy one will; that you should do one "exquisitely kind" thing for yourself every day, be it buying new underwear or taking a sledgehammer to your scale; and that you should "separate the desire to be thin from the desire to be cherished." She also gives straight diet advice that can't be found in publications along the lines of Cosmo: "Too much fat makes you fat. But too little makes you fat, too, because you usually make up for eating nonfat foods by eating twice as much. I suggest you allow yourself to eat enough fat to feel full. Part of the reason that many of us feel as if we could start eating at one end of our kitchens and chomp our way clear across the United States is that we never give ourselves permission to feel full without feeling guilty, to eat enough fat when it's not on a binge." Amen. --Erica Jorgensen ... Read more

Customer Reviews (36)

Be very careful
I read a few books by Geneen Roth, including this one, in the beginning of 2003.After reading them, I gave myself permission to stop "dieting", and allowed myself to eat the food I like, thinking that if I didn't feel deprived that I would eat less and lose weight.I also kept away from the scale.The result was I gained 30 pounds in 9 months, before stopping myself from this upward climb.Its taken over 4 years to lose those 30 pounds.To this day I still regret reading those books.While I don't think its healthy to obsess about food and counting calories and body image, I do think we need to be careful about what we eat.

Wow
No matter how many times it happens, I'm always amazed when I find that there are other people in the world who go through some of the same things as me. This book really did it, it really showed me that I'm not alone in the frightening world of body-image. By the time I finished the second chapter, I had decided that I was going to get this book for my best friend for her birthday, and by the time I had finished the sixth chapter, I realized that I was going to buy it for every single one of my girlfriends for their birthdays.
This is a really amazing book, and the author really knows how to talk to women who are in need of reassurance as well as a little shove (or a big one) in the right direction.
I suggest it for women of all ages who struggle with any sort of body/self-image, no matter how long that struggle has been going on.

Best (non)diet book I've ever read!
I originally checked this book out of the library.I loved it so much I bought a copy and am reading it again.I also purchased two copies to give to good friends.This book may or may not help me to loose weight, however, it is so uplifting and encouraging it has really helped to change my attitude towards food and not to be so self-loathing.

excellent book
as a person on the way from recovery from anorexia, this book offered helpful advice in a fun demeanor. would definitely recommend this book to everyone--on either sides of the spectrum.

when you eat at the refrigerator, pull up a chair
I like it that this book is divided into short chapters so that I can read it when I have small bits of time. ... Read more

Book Description
1997 Audie Award winner for country's Best Educational/How-to/Instructional Audiobook.

Provocative and witty, Lamott takes you beyond her book Bird by Bird. Good writing, she says, slows you down, opens your heart and arrives through your fingers, knowing what it's about. Learn how to keep things simple and how to write honestly about family and friends as you listen to this inspiring live performance.

Two 80-Minute Tapes ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Didn't enjoy this
I don't usually write reviews, but I think buyers should be aware that this recording has little to do with Lamott's very good book, 'Bird by Bird'. These tapes are self-help tapes, like Julia Cameron's stuff. I was disappointed and a little bit annoyed. The box even says 'Writer's Audio Shop' on the front--very misleading. I say read the bird book and pass on these supposed 'word' lectures. Sorry Anne.

2% writing advice, 98% self absorption and psycho-babble
2% writing advice, 98% self absorption and psycho-babble. If your primary interest is self help for the compulsive, addicted etc. - this is the book for you; if you are looking for writing advice try John Gardner.

Word By Delightful Word
Listening to anne lamott lecture is like taking a refreshing cool bath on the hottest day of the year; it quenches the soul.Additionally, her wonderfully gritty voice doles out practical writing advice with sturdy handles, the kind you literally cannot get from any oridinary seminar. Much of this tape is subsumed within her bestselling book, Bird By Bird,yet there is plenty that is unique to Word By Word to make it well worththe price; not the least of which is hearing the poem which Anne's dogSadie wrote to her, wherein Sadie ponders the question:'Should she (theauthor) really be driving?' Hilarious and poignant as ever, Lamott mixes upwry asides with text from her writing manual, and makes everythingdifficult seem worth undertaking.All in all, a generous illumination andexpansion of several classic Lamott topics; hearing her say it in her ownwords brings it crackling to life.Writing is hard work, but with Anne atyour side, it's a shared journey. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Our book group loved it!
Our book group at my Episcopal church read this together, and loved every moment of it - the way God led Anne Lamott gently throughout her crazy life with spiritual guides in the person of her friends' parents, music from a nearby church, people who popped up when she was ready for them. If you object to "raw" language and will condemn anyone who uses it, you'll probably be turned off. We felt it was necessary to be true to her story. The image of Jesus waiting outside her room, waiting to be invited in like a stray cat is one that will stay with me forever. He doesn't force us to follow him, he waits. He puts himself and his choices in our way, and we get to let him in or turn away. So much humor in the sadness, such a wonderful odyssey! Thank you, Anne Lamott! ... Read more

Book Description
Word count: 4058. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from U.S. Catholic, published by Claretian Publications on May 1, 2005. The length of the article is 1917 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Because I said so! Author Anne Lamott doesn't think twice about making her teenage son go to church, even though he complains about how much he hates it. Kids need to hang out with people who love God, and parents have the power--and the responsibility--to see that they do.(sounding board)(Excerpt)
Author: Anne Lamott
Publication: U.S. Catholic (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2005
Publisher: Claretian Publications
Volume: 70Issue: 5Page: 18(5)

Article Type: Excerpt

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description

Term paper due tomorrow? Need to cram for a test? Or just looking for the best information about a favorite literary work?

Turn to "Nonfiction Classics for Students" to get your research done in record time. Brought to you by Thomson Gale--the world's leading source of literary criticism and analysis--this e-doc contains: a summary of the work; analysis of key figures; author biography; an overview of the work's themes, style, and historical context; a compendium of in-depth critical material; study questions; compare-and-contrast commentary; suggestions for further reading; and much more.

Why choose "Nonfiction Classics for Students"? Because no other source offers so much in such a compact package. Trust the experts: Thomson Gale--and "Nonfiction Classics for Students."Download Description

Term paper due tomorrow? Need to bone up for a test? Or just looking for the best information about a favorite literary work?

Turn to "Nonfiction Classics for Students" to get your research done in record time. Brought to you by the Gale Group--the world's leading source of literary criticism and analysis--this e-doc contains: a summary of the work; analysis of key figures; author biography; an overview of the work's themes, style, and historical context; a compendium of in-depth critical material; study questions; compare-and-contrast commentary; suggestions for further reading; and much more.

Why choose "Nonfiction Classics for Students"? Because no other source offers so much in such a compact package. Trust the experts: The Gale Group--and "Nonfiction Classics for Students." ... Read more

Amazon.com
One of the few progressive Christian writers with a national voice, Anne Lamott's work (Bird by Bird, Operating Instructions) ranges from the meditative to the hilarious.Blue Shoe falls somewhere in the middle of that range.A slow, thoughtful novel, rooted in the domestic routines of child-raising, Blue Shoe follows the newly separated Mattie Ryder as she moves back into her childhood home, recently vacated by her elderly mother, and undertakes the renovation of her entire life.Her best friend Angela has left the San Francisco Bay area to move in with her new lover, Julie.Mattie's ex-husband, Nicky, has settled so quickly into a steady relationship with a young woman named Lee that it is clear they were involved during his marriage to Mattie.Nicky and Mattie's two children are displaying signs of emotional disturbance (Lamott is at her best in describing the quietly weird behavior of young children).And to add to the mix, Mattie's mother is falling into a senile dementia characterized by pleading phone calls and wacky assertions of independence.All Mattie wants is a little more money, a decent boyfriend, and for her philandering father to rise from his grave and solve all her problems.Is that so much to ask? Some of the action in this novel could have been compressed, and the major subplot involving Mattie's father fails to excite, but the strengths of Blue Shoe--humor, unflinching characterization, and keen observation--more than compensate for its weaknesses.--Regina Marler Book Description
Mattie Ryder is a marvelously funny, well-intentioned, religious, sarcastic, tender, angry, and broke recently divorced mother of two young children. Then she finds a small rubber blue shoe-the kind you might get from a gumball machine-and a few other trifles that were left years ago in her deceased father's car. They seem to hold the secrets to her messy upbringing, and as she and her brother follow these clues to uncover the mystery of their past, she begins to open her heart to her difficult, brittle mother and the father she thought she knew. And with that acceptance comes an opening up to the possibilities of romantic love.

In a disarming blend of everyday life and the sublime, of reverence and irreverence, and of humor and grace, Anne Lamott speaks directly to our most closely held concerns, bringing comfort to anyone -all of us-whose family life can feel overwhelming and uncontainable.

Lamott's formidable storytelling gifts have gained her a large and passionate following, and anybody who has experienced the delightful humor and the canny understanding of her previous work will be similarly charmed by Blue Shoe. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (92)

The Truth Shall Set Your Free But First It Will Make You Miserable
The S.F. Bay area's Anne Lamott is well known through her fiction (Joe Jones, Crooked Little Heart, All New People, etc.) and non-fiction (Bird by Bird, Traveling Mercies, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith). Both adored and distrusted for her outspoken faith and her hilarious candor about messy issues like sexual mores, abortion, divorce, Lamott's writings demonstrate that life is a bundle of contradictions for people like her, like me, like all of us who on the way but not there yet. A Guggenheim fellowship recipient, she has been a Mademoiselle book reviewer and a California restaurant critic. She has taught at UC Davis and teaches writing workshops across the U.S.

In Blue Shoe, Lamott allows us to eavesdrop and peek in on the tensions, struggles, and alliances made and broken by three generations of Mattie Ryder's family. She is a forty-something, perfect size 12, divorced mother of two young children, struggling to support her household, and to find her way forward amidst life's discouragements. Her narcissistic liberal activist mother. Isa, looms over the narrative as does the shadow of her dead father, Alfred.Mattie's is very much a stereotypical Marin County family, hedonistic, liberal, educated, free-living.The blue shoe named in the title is a vending machine trinket Mattie treats like a good luck charm.Tracing its origins connects Mattie and her brother Al to family secrets that will wound before they heal.

Despite Mattie's (and Lamott's) transparent Christian faith, there are no plaster saints in this book, but only gritty, real people.Lamott is a disciplined author, and knows it is best to show rather than tell. Like a sea shell left on the shore by a receding wave, the theme of this book emerges from the experience of its characters rather than being placarded and proclaimed. The theme is stated but not trumpeted as such in Chapter Ten, where Mattie tells her brother, "Yesterday I had an epiphany.I realized that all I have to do is to tell the truth, and let go of the results" (223). Her theme could be expressed in this wry version of a familiar New Testament text:"The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable."

This is my first Lamott novel, so I can't compare it to others she has written.She succeeds here in opening her theme to us like leaves of an avocado, inviting us to savor the subtle flavors and fragrances arising from her narrative.The pace is slow-moving, and this too is a credit to Lamott's artistry, because real life is not a quickly dispatched explanation, but a slow process of experience and discovery sorted out from the tangle of the mundane.

Despite her slow pace, too slow for some, I give Blue Shoe five stars because I believe this slowness is appropriate to a portrayal of life as it is, where the fragments of lessons learned assemble slowly before taking discernible shape.

I recommend Blue Shoe to anyone prepared to see life and relationships in full color rather than in black and white.Lamott calls us to openness to new information, and to willingness to seek out and face unexpected or uncomfortable truths.The rich web of relationships clustered around Mattie Ryder is transformed as a result.If our experience would reflect theirs, we will need courage, curiosity, and perhaps a lucky blue shoe of our own.

A bit of reality in the insanity
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.At times, I found it a bit dark and depressing, but in it I saw a bit of everyone I know embedded in its characters.As always, Ms Lamott's writing is hypnotic and poetic in a funny and sometimes melancholy way.

Not a Total Waste of Time
This was my first Anne Lamott read. What people say about starting with the first books and working your way up to the most recent, is often true. Anne Lamott is obviously a very talented writer, with a wonderful dry sense of humar and excellent descriptions of setting. However, something tells me that her earlier books are even better.
To begin, what I loved about this book was the dry humor (ie: feeling like pouring Draino over the pet iguana, etc) and the lovely descriptions. I also enjoyed the themes of self-discovery, and picking up the pieces along the way in life. Anne Lamott most definitely does a better job about writing of the trials of middle age, feminism, and discovery than some writers, who fill pages with a soon-to-be Lifetime movie script, but there are some definite flaws within as well.
I wish that more depth could have been given about the characters, or that other perspectives had been given. I wanted to know about the intertwining of lives and characters, not horribly depressing pages about dementia and drawn out-death scenes of the beloved family pet. To actually shape this story, she needed to go into the past, instead of the present.
But what annoyed me the most, was the ending. The whole premise of this story was about Mattie finding herself, discovering her father's secrets and the brother she never knew. But the story ended so abruptly, that you wanted to know more. You had a part of the story, but it seemed as if Lamott just got tired and threw in the towel.
I would have given this book three and a half, or even four stars if not for the ending, but I felt horribly cheated. In a way, the characters did as well. They didn't get to complete the journey either. The ending is everything to make a good piece of literature morph into a great one.
This is a fast read (I read it in two days), and a very good beach book. I will give Anne Lamott the fact that she is very engrosing, and makes you want to keep reading.
But, if you want some true feminist literature with amazing, plots, characters, and endings, read any one of Margaret Atwood's books!
I have not completely given up on Anne Lamott, however. I look forward to actually starting from the beginning, and then seeing what I think!

Pretty bad...
Why did I think a book about a blue shoe was going to be an interesting read??? I can hardly give this book a one star. I've read some pretty awful books, but this is the only one thus far which has compelled me to write a review.

First of all, where does Mattie live? I live in Seattle and it doesn't rain as much as it does at the Ryder house. Why is it always raining and why is it so important to tell about? Every time the author wrote about the weather it was, ho-hum, here we go again. It pulled me right out of the story. There were other times too, that I was painfully aware of the writing, like with some of the author's bad analogies. The one about the cats being like Secret Service agents was definitely one of them. I am a cat lover and owner and don't get where Lamott came up with some of her descriptions and actions of the cats. While some of the analogies were very cutesy, they certainly didn't have any ring of truth to them.

Overall, Lamott's characters were only two-dimensional at best and I found none of them to have any redeeming qualities. Lamott's descriptions throughout the book , were awkward and redundant. How many times can you use the description "nuzzling"? It came to be that every time I saw that word I had to laugh. When Mattie isn't "nuzzling" her children or smelling the back of their necks she's totally neglecting them, or wanting to peel them off her like starfish, or whatever that other bad analogy was.Mattie is a horrible person and a horrible mother. Sorry, I just couldn't relate and didn't want to. I haven't always had a perfect life or the best moral judgment myself, but, my God, get over it Mattie. Grow up and quit your whining!

I do have to confess, that this book wasn't so bad that I had to put it down midway through, like some readers, though I easily could have. Yes, the writing was bad and the story and characters lacked substance, but it was plain and simple enough that at least it was an "easy" read. One you could pick up at random if you had 5 or 10 minutes to spare.Maybe I only read the book in its entirety, so I could justify writing a review about it. Halfway through, it was making me so crazy that I went on-line to read some reviews...I'd heard amazing things about this author and I had to know, "Is it just me?" It was reassuring to find that many others felt the same way that I did, kind of a support group for the mundane journey Lamott was trying to take me on.

Like many other reviewers, I read Lamott's Bird by Bird. A friend who is an avid fan of Anne's gave me the book as a gift and I fell in love. I wanted to read everything by Anne Lamott, now I'm not so sure. I will most likely give her another shot, sticking only to her non-fiction. There is so much truth and humor in her non-fiction that just doesn't seem to translate well into a novel.

I feel like this book never should have made it to print. With a lot more work, it might have earned a full one star rating.

worlds worst similes
Tedious overall; notable are the funny, puzzlingly surreal, world's worst similes."The animals sprinted to the kitchen at her heels like hungry Secret Service agents...."Hunh? ... Read more