Running the Rift is the most recent winner of the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, as awarded by Barbara Kingsolver. It's also an...
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Anne Lamott burst onto the literary scene in 1993 with Operating Instructions. This now-classic memoir of her son Sam's first year of life endeared her to single mothers, parents, and even non-parents across the country. With her new book, Some Assembly Required (Riverhead), she is set to do the same for grandparenthood. Stunned to learn that Sam, now 19, is about to become a father, Lamott begins a journal about the first year of her grandson Jax's life, recalling her own experiences with Sam when she was a single mother. Over the course of the year, the rhythms of life, death, family, and friends unfold in surprising and joyful ways. Please note: This ticketed event takes place at the Bagdad Theater, 3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Tickets, $26.95, include admission and a copy of Some Assembly Required and are available at the Bagdad Theater, the Crystal Ballroom, CascadeTickets.com, or by phone at 855-227-8499. Books distributed at event.
"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write [it] was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'"
With this basic instruction always in mind, Anne Lamott returns to offer us a new gift: a step-by-step guide on how to write and on how to manage the writer's life. From "Getting Started," with "Short Assignments," through "Shitty First Drafts," "Character," "Plot," "Dialogue," all the way from "False Starts" to "How Do You Know When You're Done?" Lamott encourages, instructs, and inspires. She discusses "Writer's Block," "Writing Groups," and "Publication." Bracingly honest, she is also one of the funniest people alive.
If you have ever wondered what it takes to be a writer, what it means to be a writer, what the contents of your school lunches said about what your parents were really like, this book's for you. From faith, love, and grace to pain, jealousy, and fear, Lamott insists that you keep your eyes open, and then shows you how to survive. And always, from the life of the artist she turns to the art of life.
Review:
"Lamott's miscellany of guidance and reflection should appeal to writers struggling with demons large and slight....Lamott's suggestion on the craft of fiction is down-to-earth: worry about the characters, not the plot." Publishers Weekly
Review:
"Paragraph by paragraph, this humorous, insightful, no-nonsense approach will remind novices why they are writing: to tell the truth, to live from the heart, and to share their gift with others. A writer's guide that is bound to teach and inspire by example." Kirkus Reviews
Review:
"An honest appraisal of what it takes to be a writer and why it matters so much." Library Journal
Review:
"Superb writing advice... hilarious, helpful and provocative." New York Times Book Review
Review:
"A warm, generous and hilarious guide through the writer's world and its treacherous swamps." Los Angeles Times
Review:
"A gift to all of us mortals who write or ever wanted to write...[S]idesplittingly funny, patiently wise and alternately cranky and kind — a reveille to get off our duffs and start writing now, while we still can." Seattle Times
Synopsis:
"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'"
Anne Lamott lives with her son, Sam, in northern California. She is the author of several books, including the novels Hard Laughter, Rosie, Joe Jones, and All New People, as well as the nonfiction Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year.
Thomas Chandler, October 22, 2011 (view all comments by Thomas Chandler)
More inspirational that instructional, Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird is a witty, entertaining look at her life as a writer, and while I would warn other writers against blindly emulating any writer's process, there's certainly plenty here worth stealing.
Most interesting is her approach to teaching the craft; if you're writing for money, fame, approval or other forms of validation, Lamott suggests you're probably already in trouble.
In one sense, she's probably right; writing is a tough way to make a living unless something in the writing process feeds you (the writing world is filled with people more interested in the lifestyle than the work itself, and for them, Lamott's book should serve as a wakeup call).
Most of her specific advice isn't exactly new (notice things, take notes, use what you know in your stories, your first draft probably bites), yet when told in the context of her career, her advice is compelling -- especially to those without fully formed reasons for entering the business.
Don't expect bullet points or any of that comically oversimplified "1. Write Book; 2. Get Agent..." crap. Lamott's all about writing for the sake of writing, and this book focuses on her processes -- including a chapter on dealing with jealousy.
That's not exactly normal "how to" fare, but at the very least -- to a writer with plenty of experience in copywriting but little in Lamott's part of the writing universe -- it's amusing stuff.
A few lucky writers find the resources they need at critical parts of their career (I stumbled on Ogilvy On Advertising when I was starting to wonder about making a living in the advertising world), and given the kind of grounded, real-world inspiration it offers, I think "Bird by Bird" should probably be handed to every college student captured by the thought of arranging words for a living.
Lamott's a witty and revealing writer, and though I'm not a memoirist or fiction writer, it's hard not to be inspired by this book.
nanababy5, June 28, 2011 (view all comments by nanababy5)
With wry humor Anne Lamott dismantles the misconceptions about the writing life, sharing with piercing honesty her own creative journey. This is not the typical How To book on writing; it is part biography, and at times has the intimate feel of a memoir.
Reading this book, I could easily imagine Anne seated across my kitchen table with a mug of coffee or tea, and the spontaneous bouts of humor which would burst forth from both of us as we shared our writing debacles and mishaps.
It takes courage to write with such transparency, and this Annie does to perfection. If I could own only one book on writing, this is it. Bird by Bird will satisfy any natural born writer whose passion for the written word outshines the tedium of ordinary life.
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LKSalmonson, September 24, 2010 (view all comments by LKSalmonson)
I consider that Bird by Bird is a fantasy. It has little relevance to me. It is particularist (against searching for scientific generalizations and realism). In spite of her repeatedly urging truth, she is against scientific truth. Bird by Bird says that every creative writer should have had an unhappy childhood or dysfunctional life. I myself had an idyllic childhood and am always happy to be a spiritual elder for Mother Earth. I think that teachers like her are working against Mother Earth.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No (2 of 39 readers found this comment helpful)
"Review"
by Publishers Weekly,
"Lamott's miscellany of guidance and reflection should appeal to writers struggling with demons large and slight....Lamott's suggestion on the craft of fiction is down-to-earth: worry about the characters, not the plot."
"Review"
by Kirkus Reviews,
"Paragraph by paragraph, this humorous, insightful, no-nonsense approach will remind novices why they are writing: to tell the truth, to live from the heart, and to share their gift with others. A writer's guide that is bound to teach and inspire by example."
"Review"
by Library Journal,
"An honest appraisal of what it takes to be a writer and why it matters so much."
"Review"
by New York Times Book Review,
"Superb writing advice... hilarious, helpful and provocative."
"Review"
by Los Angeles Times,
"A warm, generous and hilarious guide through the writer's world and its treacherous swamps."
"Review"
by Seattle Times,
"A gift to all of us mortals who write or ever wanted to write...[S]idesplittingly funny, patiently wise and alternately cranky and kind — a reveille to get off our duffs and start writing now, while we still can."
"Synopsis"
by Random,
"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'"
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