Anne Lamott

"I am stockpiling antibiotics for the Apocalypse, even as I await the blossoming of paperwhites on the windowsill in the kitchen," Anne Lamott admits at the beginning of Almost Everything. Despair and uncertainty surround us: in the news, in our families, and in ourselves. But even when life is at its bleakest--when we are, as she puts it, "doomed, stunned, exhausted, and over-caffeinated"--the seeds of rejuvenation are at hand. "All truth is paradox," Lamott writes, "and this turns out to be a reason for hope. If you arrive at a place in life that is miserable, it will change." That is the time when we must pledge not to give up but "to do what Wendell Berry wrote: 'Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts.'"

In this profound and funny book, Lamott calls for each of us to rediscover the nuggets of hope and wisdom that are buried within us that can make life sweeter than we ever imagined. Divided into short chapters that explore life's essential truths, Almost Everything pinpoints these moments of insight as it shines an encouraging light forward.… (mais)

Writing is lonely. So whenever I start a new project, I look for a book about it I haven’t read yet. It’s like having a sympathetic friend holding my hand, reassuring me.
Somehow, the book I choose is precisely what I need. Well, that’s not always true, but when it’s not, I quickly spot it and move on to another. But this one filled the bill. It came out thirty years ago, but I only recently became aware of it, although I remember hearing her spots on NPR way back when.
Lamott’s advice in this book is sensible, even if little of it is new. It’s not a problem; I need to hear it all again with each new project. And I’ve never read it in such a humorous, self-deprecating manner. She and her friends sound like a lovable, walking collective of personality disorders (I think those are really her words, but right now, I can’t find the quote). Somehow, they keep each other’s spirits up.
She is honest about the rivalry and jealousy writers experience. She also makes it clear (repeatedly) that publication is not the main reason to write, much less the gateway to fixing everything wrong in your life. If, toward the end, her reporting of her neuroses wears thin through repetition, along the way, there are descriptions of it that had me laughing out loud.
This book helped me get through the first five days of a new project, allowing me to make a solid start. Thank you, Anne, for being there.… (mais)