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Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith
In Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith, the author of the bestsellers Traveling Mercies and Plan B delivers a poignant, funny, and bittersweet primer of faith, as we come to discover what it means to be fully alive.
In Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith, Lamott examines the ways we're caught in life's most daunting predicaments: love, mothering, work, politics, and maybe toughest of all, evolving from who we are to who we were meant to be. This is a complicated process for most of us, and Lamott turns her wit and honesty inward to describe her own intimate, bumpy, and unconventional road to grace and faith.
"I wish grace and healing were more abracadabra kinds of things," she writes in one of her essays, "that delicate silver bells would ring to announce grace's arrival. But no, it's clog and slog and scootch, on the floor, in silence, in the dark."
Whether she's writing about her unsuccessful efforts to get her money back from an obstinate carpet salesman, grappling with the tectonic shifts in her relationship with her son as he matures, trying to maintain her faith and humor during politically challenging times, or helping a close friend die with dignity, Lamott seeks out both the divinity and the humanity in herself and everything around her. Throughout these essays, she writes of her struggle to find the essence of her faith, which she uncovers in the unlikeliest places.
In Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith, Lamott examines the ways we're caught in life's most daunting predicaments: love, mothering, work, politics, and maybe toughest of all, evolving from who we are to who we were meant to be. This is a complicated process for most of us, and Lamott turns her wit and honesty inward to describe her own intimate, bumpy, and unconventional road to grace and faith.
"I wish grace and healing were more abracadabra kinds of things," she writes in one of her essays, "that delicate silver bells would ring to announce grace's arrival. But no, it's clog and slog and scootch, on the floor, in silence, in the dark."
Whether she's writing about her unsuccessful efforts to get her money back from an obstinate carpet salesman, grappling with the tectonic shifts in her relationship with her son as he matures, trying to maintain her faith and humor during politically challenging times, or helping a close friend die with dignity, Lamott seeks out both the divinity and the humanity in herself and everything around her. Throughout these essays, she writes of her struggle to find the essence of her faith, which she uncovers in the unlikeliest places.
255 pages, Hardcover
First published March 20, 2007
385 people are currently reading
8654 people want to read
About the author
Anne Lamott
90 books10.2k followersAnne Lamott is an author of several novels and works of non-fiction. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, her non-fiction works are largely autobiographical, with strong doses of self-deprecating humor and covering such subjects as alcoholism, single motherhood, and Christianity. She appeals to her fans because of her sense of humor, her deeply felt insights, and her outspoken views on topics such as her left-of-center politics and her unconventional Christian faith. She is a graduate of Drew College Preparatory School in San Francisco, California. Her father, Kenneth Lamott, was also a writer and was the basis of her first novel Hard Laughter.
Lamott's life is documented in Freida Lee Mock's 1999 documentary Bird by Bird: A Film Portrait of Writer Anne Lamott.
Lamott's life is documented in Freida Lee Mock's 1999 documentary Bird by Bird: A Film Portrait of Writer Anne Lamott.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,250 reviews
February 5, 2017
The last five years or so, maybe, I’ve made it a point to begin the year with a book by Anne Lamott, maybe it’s become like reading holiday stories around the holidays, something to hopefully remind me, us, of what is important other than the list of people to buy gifts for. Anne Lamott’s words remind me of what is important beyond all the hoopla of the daily ins and outs of living, traffic jams or last minute runs to the grocery store or even walking the dog. Dogs in my case. This year, more than maybe more than others, I really wanted to find a way to make sense of some things that really boggle my mind.
As I read through this, not unusual lately, politics were on my mind a lot – if you’ve read Anne Lamott’s books or even other reviews of almost any of her books, you’ll find at least one review, it seems, where someone complains about her political leanings. More to the point, her dislike of George W. Bush. So through much of this I was thinking both about how reviews for this must include some comments to the effect of how someone wishes she’d stop talking about GWB and all I kept thinking was how I figured Anne Lamott must be in a tizzy over the latest office holder.
So, yes, she does mention politics, ecology, the things you’d expect from her, how she tries, and sometimes fails, to incorporate her faith in her everyday life, her son. The rebellious teenage years that wear one down. It’s been ten years since she wrote Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith, she’s older, she talks about the toll of age on her body, the toll of being a parent, the indignation of getting a ticket for her dog being off-leash. Some are just rants, like she’s called you in a moment where she feels momentarily as though her world is coming apart, but needs to get this off her chest to feel so she can examine why she feels this way.
I seem to hang on to my hates because they help take my mind off the cracked reflection in the mirror.
It’s that willingness to be so raw and real but still charming in her awful behavior that keeps me reading her books every year. To share these stories, these feelings with the world, to transform that into something on the page that is sometimes amusing, but always true and honest and beautiful.
I am really looking forward to her soon-to-be-published Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy which is scheduled to be published in a few months.
As I read through this, not unusual lately, politics were on my mind a lot – if you’ve read Anne Lamott’s books or even other reviews of almost any of her books, you’ll find at least one review, it seems, where someone complains about her political leanings. More to the point, her dislike of George W. Bush. So through much of this I was thinking both about how reviews for this must include some comments to the effect of how someone wishes she’d stop talking about GWB and all I kept thinking was how I figured Anne Lamott must be in a tizzy over the latest office holder.
So, yes, she does mention politics, ecology, the things you’d expect from her, how she tries, and sometimes fails, to incorporate her faith in her everyday life, her son. The rebellious teenage years that wear one down. It’s been ten years since she wrote Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith, she’s older, she talks about the toll of age on her body, the toll of being a parent, the indignation of getting a ticket for her dog being off-leash. Some are just rants, like she’s called you in a moment where she feels momentarily as though her world is coming apart, but needs to get this off her chest to feel so she can examine why she feels this way.
I seem to hang on to my hates because they help take my mind off the cracked reflection in the mirror.
It’s that willingness to be so raw and real but still charming in her awful behavior that keeps me reading her books every year. To share these stories, these feelings with the world, to transform that into something on the page that is sometimes amusing, but always true and honest and beautiful.
I am really looking forward to her soon-to-be-published Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy which is scheduled to be published in a few months.
December 4, 2013
Annie, we need to talk.
First of all, why do you keep telling the same stories and quips over and over, repeating yourself like a demented party guest? Remember Jesus drinking gin straight out of the cat dish? Let's get back to that type of hilarious creativity. But let us never speak of Jesus as a 13 year old punk again. It was funny the first time in Plan B. When you brought it up in this very next book, verbatim, I physically cringed.
Also, nature is lovely and healing and all, but I got bored the third time you embarked on a cleansing hike in this book. Even moreso when you continued to describe such walks in minute, stultifying detail for the remainder of the essays. Have you forgotten how to find God in the city? Or just how to write on more than one theme? I don't know - maybe I'm just not that outdoorsy.
I ask all this out of love, because you can do so much better. This is evident in the final section of the book, where you write so lovingly and compellingly about Sam as a teenager. "Samwheel," in particular, is heart-wrenching in all the right ways. To my surprise, I even liked the stuff about your relationship with your mom, which could quickly have gone the way of the aforementioned nature hikes. But it turns out that describing the slip and grip of grace in everyday relationships is still your strongest suit, whether those relationships are with the physical world and its institutions, the life of the spirit, or with those around you. The way you talk about people and their quirks is as astonishing as ever, and I mean that in a good way.
I'll keep hanging onto that until your next book, Annie. For all of our sakes, I'm hoping it's a novel.
Kate
First of all, why do you keep telling the same stories and quips over and over, repeating yourself like a demented party guest? Remember Jesus drinking gin straight out of the cat dish? Let's get back to that type of hilarious creativity. But let us never speak of Jesus as a 13 year old punk again. It was funny the first time in Plan B. When you brought it up in this very next book, verbatim, I physically cringed.
Also, nature is lovely and healing and all, but I got bored the third time you embarked on a cleansing hike in this book. Even moreso when you continued to describe such walks in minute, stultifying detail for the remainder of the essays. Have you forgotten how to find God in the city? Or just how to write on more than one theme? I don't know - maybe I'm just not that outdoorsy.
I ask all this out of love, because you can do so much better. This is evident in the final section of the book, where you write so lovingly and compellingly about Sam as a teenager. "Samwheel," in particular, is heart-wrenching in all the right ways. To my surprise, I even liked the stuff about your relationship with your mom, which could quickly have gone the way of the aforementioned nature hikes. But it turns out that describing the slip and grip of grace in everyday relationships is still your strongest suit, whether those relationships are with the physical world and its institutions, the life of the spirit, or with those around you. The way you talk about people and their quirks is as astonishing as ever, and I mean that in a good way.
I'll keep hanging onto that until your next book, Annie. For all of our sakes, I'm hoping it's a novel.
Kate
March 15, 2008
Hmmmm. . .I noticed a lot of really negative reviews about this book by folks who are Anne Lamott fans. I did enjoy it and, yes, as other reviewers noted it is more of the same of what we were given in Traveling Mercies & Plan B, but I don't know that I would expect anything different from her.
The reviews that were negative sounded to me as if folks expected Lamott to reveal some sort of progressive "improvement" in her approach to life--instead she is honest about her daily struggles to be the type of person she would like to be. I admire her for that and for not attempting to try to make herself look more spiritually grounded than she is. She is more willing than most folks to discuss those sides of life that most people put a lid on and never show to others. So, yes, she may complain about things at times, but hey-- she's open about her crap days (we all have them) as much as she expresses deep appreciation for those people and things that bring her joy. I can't ask for more than that!
The reviews that were negative sounded to me as if folks expected Lamott to reveal some sort of progressive "improvement" in her approach to life--instead she is honest about her daily struggles to be the type of person she would like to be. I admire her for that and for not attempting to try to make herself look more spiritually grounded than she is. She is more willing than most folks to discuss those sides of life that most people put a lid on and never show to others. So, yes, she may complain about things at times, but hey-- she's open about her crap days (we all have them) as much as she expresses deep appreciation for those people and things that bring her joy. I can't ask for more than that!
July 18, 2009
I don't know that this was the way I should have been introduced to the writing of Anne Lamott. I have so many friends who just love her books, writing, honesty, and faith. There were times where I laughed out loud reading about her skiing efforts, her experiences with Sam as a mother and her dog getting lost, her mishaps and successses. But the abortion rant put me off a great deal. And I think the central conflict in the life of the author was her hatred of George W. Bush as a president. I am not a Bush lover, but I do not think that this country was so bad off while he was in office that the whole of life has come crashing down as a result of his leadership. I got tired of the rants about the former President. There was some here to like, but I'm not sure in the long run that it was worth it in reading the whole memoir. Maybe I'll read one of her others. I guess we'll see.
March 11, 2009
Anne Lamott should edit out her vitriol toward GW Bush and Cheney when she writes a purported book on faith. It alienated me, and I'm not even among their fans.
With regard to the portion of the book that was about faith, I was amused and moved by some of her anecdotes - the weekend she freaked out in jealousy over the very new financial success of a happily married couple she was friends with, the many small miracles that occurred the afternoon she agreed to assist in teaching a dance class for mentally disabled adults.
Others, however, seemed far too navel-gazing. I know that's her forte: the personal, the local, the immediate. But I just wasn't feeling - or wasn't prepared to buy - the terror she felt when she briefly lost sight of her dog on a trail near her house, or the transcendent relief she experienced when the ski patrol rescued her from a self-induced fall out of the ski lift. Don't get me wrong: Lamott's an excellent, loose writer, and I laughed out loud at the ski lift story. But it just fell short in the "life lessons" category.
With regard to the portion of the book that was about faith, I was amused and moved by some of her anecdotes - the weekend she freaked out in jealousy over the very new financial success of a happily married couple she was friends with, the many small miracles that occurred the afternoon she agreed to assist in teaching a dance class for mentally disabled adults.
Others, however, seemed far too navel-gazing. I know that's her forte: the personal, the local, the immediate. But I just wasn't feeling - or wasn't prepared to buy - the terror she felt when she briefly lost sight of her dog on a trail near her house, or the transcendent relief she experienced when the ski patrol rescued her from a self-induced fall out of the ski lift. Don't get me wrong: Lamott's an excellent, loose writer, and I laughed out loud at the ski lift story. But it just fell short in the "life lessons" category.
March 12, 2016
I seem to have forgotten to add this book to my book log, probably because as soon as I finished it, I started reading it again. I can’t write rationally about Lamott anyway; it’s like trying to write logically about your first junior high crush when you are thirteen. Here’s my truth about her: I try to get her books on the day they come out…I read them once and then I read them again…I try to find them on audio and listen to them again…I force other people to read her books, even agnostic friends who have taken to rolling their eyes when I say the word Lamott…I drive into Houston and pay lots of money to hear her speak at a benefit and I don’t even care…I dare to bring my Author Tablecloth to the benefit and boldly ask Lamott to autograph it…And, probably the most amazing of all, I even trudge through her fiction, wondering and wondering how someone who writes such lovely nonfiction can write such tedious fiction…Yes, I’m one of those awful creatures: a raving fan.
April 29, 2017
This is the first book by Anne Lamott I have tried reading, and it is also the last! Her thoughts on faith seem to me more like thoughts about herself. I don't understand how thoughts on faith can have so little to do with God or Jesus. I wasn't finding the book particularly interesting or inspiring, but thought I would keep reading. Then I came to the chapters about how she once assisted with a suicide and how she adamantly supports abortion, and even seems proud to have had more than one. I knew then that she and I are on a completely different spectrum in our spiritual paths, and there was no reason for me to continue reading beyond page 105!
April 23, 2009
I know that everything about this book should say RUN! RUN! The author is a recovering alchoholic, born-again Christian, hippie from Northern California *with dreaklocks!*. Aparently, she and Derrick Jensen have a lot of drama, which is, of course, utterly hilarious.
But don't be swayed by crabby Ol'Derrick's accusations that she is a vapid liberal.
Anne Lamont is intensely likable, unprentious, self-depracting and goofy. I don't even hate her for being a former coke head or a current hippie or for believing ernestly that a "read in" is a successful form of social protest. The fact that she writes constantly about praying for the grace to love George W. Bush as a fellow child of God should be annoying but....she really means it.
Her theology isn't dippy but some combination of sophisticated Universalism and day-to-day paganism. God accepts and loves us all unconditionally and we are all saved, but we still have a responsiblity to clean up our messes. She writes that a more enlightend friend of her prays only two prayers: In the mornig "whatever" and in the evening, "oh well". She, not beings so enlightened pray only two prayers: "help me help me help me" and "thank you thank you thank you".
If I believed in God it would Anne Lamont's God, by whom we are all "loved and chosen".
But don't be swayed by crabby Ol'Derrick's accusations that she is a vapid liberal.
Anne Lamont is intensely likable, unprentious, self-depracting and goofy. I don't even hate her for being a former coke head or a current hippie or for believing ernestly that a "read in" is a successful form of social protest. The fact that she writes constantly about praying for the grace to love George W. Bush as a fellow child of God should be annoying but....she really means it.
Her theology isn't dippy but some combination of sophisticated Universalism and day-to-day paganism. God accepts and loves us all unconditionally and we are all saved, but we still have a responsiblity to clean up our messes. She writes that a more enlightend friend of her prays only two prayers: In the mornig "whatever" and in the evening, "oh well". She, not beings so enlightened pray only two prayers: "help me help me help me" and "thank you thank you thank you".
If I believed in God it would Anne Lamont's God, by whom we are all "loved and chosen".
December 31, 2014
I am 4/5 of the way trough this book, and I loathe it. The only reason I am finishing it is because I want to review it properly. However, I can tell you that I'm EXTREMELY disappointed. Thankfully it is short.
*********************
Thank you, Lord, I am finally finished with this piece of drivel.
This book should have been named Ann Lamott (Continuously): Thoughts on Myself, as that is ALL she talks about. If she wanted to write yet another memoir (of sorts), then entitle it & market it as such. To suggest that this book is about grace (as in the grace of God) is erroneous in the extreme. Lamott simply DOES NOT GET the concept of grace...at all. I actually expected this to be a book of at least a modicum of substance, so I was thoroughly disappointed at the end. It was shallow, doctrinally flawed, morally relative, and all in all, a very laissez faire approach to Christianity.
If Lamott was looking to burn off readers - specifically readers whose points of view differ from hers - she has successful written a book that will accomplish that. This is truly a shame, because she has a talent for writing and spins an interesting tale. Unfortunately she seems unable to discuss issues that are dear to her heart without presenting them in a way that will appeal only to like-minded readers. The rest of us will want to (and may indeed) hurl the book against the wall.
The most glaring problem with this book is her irrational anger toward and hatred for George W. Bush. Certainly she disagrees with him politically, but she expresses such such extreme reactions to him & his policies (depression, for instance) that she comes across as unstable. I mean seriously, I get being opposed to a politician's ideology, but to become so hate-filled and morose is disturbing to me, as it seems to suggest that Lamott's life is not altogether balanced.
Regarding her Christianity, she claims to be a devout Christian and to have a complete, encompassing love for Jesus. I won't dispute her love for Jesus, but to claim that she is devout is committing a huge disservice to Christians who actually ARE devout. What she subscribes to is "Christianity Lite." She picks and chooses what biblical truths she believes in & adheres to, which makes me question her commitment to God. What I don't question is her almost rabid commitment to abortion, even seeming somewhat proud that she herself had "a couple" in her younger years, and she declares it a moral imperative that children not be brought in the world who will be resented. What astonishes me about this is how completely counter it runs to biblical teaching, which not only requires us not to kill, but commands us to care for widows and children. There is simply no way to biblically justify her stance on abortion.
She also assisted in a suicide, and was admittedly proud to be a part of this man's death plan. Here again she believes & espouses something that is absolutely not supported by scripture, and yet she is attaching moral superiority to the choice. This is problematic for me, because we as humans are incapable of seeing all that God sees, or knowing all that God knows, yet she is willing to take on a God-like role with the limitations of our humanity. That's just scary...and stupid...and arrogant in the extreme.
Finally, she made a conscious decision to have a child out of wedlock. For a devout, committed Christian, this is anathema, and yet she describes it as a decision she came to because she was ready to be a mother and there was no suitable spouse with whom to create a stable home. Furthermore, this in & of itself verifies that she has engaged in premarital sex, not to mention that she has already admitted to having "a couple" abortions. Granted, she may not have been a professing Christian at the time of those abortions - and she was a practicing alcoholic & drug user - but to become a Christian and not loathe what are rightly labeled the sins of one's past, nor to express remorse for having done those things, is to completely miss the point of GRACE. We are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, freely given to us, and when we truly accept that gift, we are reborn & renewed in our hearts, with a desire to follow hard after Christ. Of course we fail, but if our hearts are truly changed, then we continue striving to put Christ at the center or our lives. No where in her book does Lamott describe a relationship with God that puts him at the center of her life. How can she, when so many other things take precedence to God? She swerves into grace occasionally, and even then, she describes it as more of her own doing than God's.
This was the most disappointing, frustrating and infuriating book I have read this year. Unless you are a reader of like mind and heart, I would recommend avoiding this one. It will save you a lot of irritation.
*********************
Thank you, Lord, I am finally finished with this piece of drivel.
This book should have been named Ann Lamott (Continuously): Thoughts on Myself, as that is ALL she talks about. If she wanted to write yet another memoir (of sorts), then entitle it & market it as such. To suggest that this book is about grace (as in the grace of God) is erroneous in the extreme. Lamott simply DOES NOT GET the concept of grace...at all. I actually expected this to be a book of at least a modicum of substance, so I was thoroughly disappointed at the end. It was shallow, doctrinally flawed, morally relative, and all in all, a very laissez faire approach to Christianity.
If Lamott was looking to burn off readers - specifically readers whose points of view differ from hers - she has successful written a book that will accomplish that. This is truly a shame, because she has a talent for writing and spins an interesting tale. Unfortunately she seems unable to discuss issues that are dear to her heart without presenting them in a way that will appeal only to like-minded readers. The rest of us will want to (and may indeed) hurl the book against the wall.
The most glaring problem with this book is her irrational anger toward and hatred for George W. Bush. Certainly she disagrees with him politically, but she expresses such such extreme reactions to him & his policies (depression, for instance) that she comes across as unstable. I mean seriously, I get being opposed to a politician's ideology, but to become so hate-filled and morose is disturbing to me, as it seems to suggest that Lamott's life is not altogether balanced.
Regarding her Christianity, she claims to be a devout Christian and to have a complete, encompassing love for Jesus. I won't dispute her love for Jesus, but to claim that she is devout is committing a huge disservice to Christians who actually ARE devout. What she subscribes to is "Christianity Lite." She picks and chooses what biblical truths she believes in & adheres to, which makes me question her commitment to God. What I don't question is her almost rabid commitment to abortion, even seeming somewhat proud that she herself had "a couple" in her younger years, and she declares it a moral imperative that children not be brought in the world who will be resented. What astonishes me about this is how completely counter it runs to biblical teaching, which not only requires us not to kill, but commands us to care for widows and children. There is simply no way to biblically justify her stance on abortion.
She also assisted in a suicide, and was admittedly proud to be a part of this man's death plan. Here again she believes & espouses something that is absolutely not supported by scripture, and yet she is attaching moral superiority to the choice. This is problematic for me, because we as humans are incapable of seeing all that God sees, or knowing all that God knows, yet she is willing to take on a God-like role with the limitations of our humanity. That's just scary...and stupid...and arrogant in the extreme.
Finally, she made a conscious decision to have a child out of wedlock. For a devout, committed Christian, this is anathema, and yet she describes it as a decision she came to because she was ready to be a mother and there was no suitable spouse with whom to create a stable home. Furthermore, this in & of itself verifies that she has engaged in premarital sex, not to mention that she has already admitted to having "a couple" abortions. Granted, she may not have been a professing Christian at the time of those abortions - and she was a practicing alcoholic & drug user - but to become a Christian and not loathe what are rightly labeled the sins of one's past, nor to express remorse for having done those things, is to completely miss the point of GRACE. We are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, freely given to us, and when we truly accept that gift, we are reborn & renewed in our hearts, with a desire to follow hard after Christ. Of course we fail, but if our hearts are truly changed, then we continue striving to put Christ at the center or our lives. No where in her book does Lamott describe a relationship with God that puts him at the center of her life. How can she, when so many other things take precedence to God? She swerves into grace occasionally, and even then, she describes it as more of her own doing than God's.
This was the most disappointing, frustrating and infuriating book I have read this year. Unless you are a reader of like mind and heart, I would recommend avoiding this one. It will save you a lot of irritation.
May 20, 2014
Anne Lamott has many endearing traits as a memoirist. She can be very funny and has a lovely command of language. In the first story of this collection, I found her sympathetic and self-aware as she described growing out of a troubled period in her 20s, when she drank too much, took too many drugs, and "accidentally" ended up sleeping with other women's husbands. The title of the book, Grace (Eventually) seemed to promise she would find her way.
But unless you share her reflexive, rigid and seemingly fatal anger at political conservatives, most particularly the evil George Bush, this book becomes unbearable. For example, in an otherwise charming chapter writing about teaching 5-year-old boys in Sunday School about what the Wailing Wall represents, and the concept that everybody in this world is "loved and chosen," she struggles to believe her own lesson: ". . . In truth, everyone is loved and chosen, even Dick Cheney, even Saddam Hussein." Maybe the 5-year-olds got it better than the teacher.
Despite this sort of lunacy, I read on, but was duly punished for it. In a later chapter, ostensibly about learning to forgive the obnoxious traits of a friend's husband because of the care he extended to his cancer-ridden wife, she begins: "I don't hate anyone right now, not even George W. Bush," a condition she attributes to "the presence of grace, or dementia or both."
Lamott frequently acknowledges that her emotions and anger can get the better of her, and admits the damage she does to herself by her own Bush Derangement Syndrome. Yet instead of pulling in the reins, she barrels on, chapter after chapter, bringing him up again and again, each time with loathing. This book supposedly is about finding peace with herself and correcting other relationships that needed tending, but she cannot resist sticking politics in everywhere: angry, vitriolic politics. She also slams Tom Delay, Karl Rove, and Donald Rumsfeld, though their sins seem to be that they are white, male and Republican. Thinking of George Bush, which she seems almost powerless to stop, contributes to her binge eating, and occasional depression. She mentions him at least half a dozen times by page 141, when I could take no more.
Lamott is among other feminist writers who want to glorify their anger because it's for a good cause, but they fail to see that their unbridled anger reinforces one of the worst stereotypes about women: that they cannot control their emotions. It is discouraging.
In a chapter about speaking on a panel discussing abortion and faith, she blasts "patriarchal sentimentality about miniscule zygotes." Yet in the very next paragraph she is confused enough to claim that really, she lives to fight for the sacredness of each human life. Oh, thanks for clarifying. She justifies her anger on this because she is "tired and menopausal and would like for the most part to be left alone."
Not exactly. People who want to be left alone don't keep cashing in on books about their lives. That is being very public, not being left alone. Couldn't she be more honest?
How anyone can view a woman this angry and so rigid as a reliable witness to what a life of faith and grace looks like is beyond me.
Because after all this, I don't see any Grace, Eventually.
But unless you share her reflexive, rigid and seemingly fatal anger at political conservatives, most particularly the evil George Bush, this book becomes unbearable. For example, in an otherwise charming chapter writing about teaching 5-year-old boys in Sunday School about what the Wailing Wall represents, and the concept that everybody in this world is "loved and chosen," she struggles to believe her own lesson: ". . . In truth, everyone is loved and chosen, even Dick Cheney, even Saddam Hussein." Maybe the 5-year-olds got it better than the teacher.
Despite this sort of lunacy, I read on, but was duly punished for it. In a later chapter, ostensibly about learning to forgive the obnoxious traits of a friend's husband because of the care he extended to his cancer-ridden wife, she begins: "I don't hate anyone right now, not even George W. Bush," a condition she attributes to "the presence of grace, or dementia or both."
Lamott frequently acknowledges that her emotions and anger can get the better of her, and admits the damage she does to herself by her own Bush Derangement Syndrome. Yet instead of pulling in the reins, she barrels on, chapter after chapter, bringing him up again and again, each time with loathing. This book supposedly is about finding peace with herself and correcting other relationships that needed tending, but she cannot resist sticking politics in everywhere: angry, vitriolic politics. She also slams Tom Delay, Karl Rove, and Donald Rumsfeld, though their sins seem to be that they are white, male and Republican. Thinking of George Bush, which she seems almost powerless to stop, contributes to her binge eating, and occasional depression. She mentions him at least half a dozen times by page 141, when I could take no more.
Lamott is among other feminist writers who want to glorify their anger because it's for a good cause, but they fail to see that their unbridled anger reinforces one of the worst stereotypes about women: that they cannot control their emotions. It is discouraging.
In a chapter about speaking on a panel discussing abortion and faith, she blasts "patriarchal sentimentality about miniscule zygotes." Yet in the very next paragraph she is confused enough to claim that really, she lives to fight for the sacredness of each human life. Oh, thanks for clarifying. She justifies her anger on this because she is "tired and menopausal and would like for the most part to be left alone."
Not exactly. People who want to be left alone don't keep cashing in on books about their lives. That is being very public, not being left alone. Couldn't she be more honest?
How anyone can view a woman this angry and so rigid as a reliable witness to what a life of faith and grace looks like is beyond me.
Because after all this, I don't see any Grace, Eventually.
October 25, 2009
This is a book of essays on grace, and there are good stories in it. But (a) I listened to it on CD and found the author's voice really annoying and (b) kept being struck by how little grace I was finding in it. I loved Bird by Bird, because I thought the author displayed some of the frailty, the humanity, that writers share. She didn't write like a literary god, she wrote like someone you know. And she writes like that in this book, too. But for me, I kept coming to the conclusion that the author and I, for the many things we have in common (a basic commonality of spirituality/values, a gender, the work we do), wouldn't be friends in real life. She wouldn't appreciate my perspective and, from all indications, wouldn't be at all tolerant of our differences. And while I could be more tolerant of our differences to begin with, I'd eventually get angry that the courtesy wasn't reciprocal.
This is a bizarre message to get from a book like this, and it's why I didn't appreciate it more. It probably wouldn't be a problem for most readers, so don't let it necessarily turn you off from the book...
This is a bizarre message to get from a book like this, and it's why I didn't appreciate it more. It probably wouldn't be a problem for most readers, so don't let it necessarily turn you off from the book...
August 2, 2007
I keep reading Anne LaMott to reassure myself that my deep, dark aetheist soul can read about religion without wanting to throw something across the room. Kind of a hodge-podge of essays with the humility and confession we've come to expect but not exactly cohesive or anything, it has a slapped together feel. Whatever, after reading tales of her years of struggle, go on, make as much money as you can or want to Anne.
May 31, 2011
Ehhhh... Traveling Mercies much much better. The only thing I got out of this was that Anne Lamott has way more time on her hands than I do to think about how much existential angst she has and how much she hates George Bush and Dick Cheney.
August 22, 2014
I found a new author! Well, new to me. I love libraries. I love books! (see the connection?) I love libraries that always have books to sell. Where I live there are 5 public libraries within 2 miles of me! (heaven!) 1 of them in particular always has a nice selection of books for sale and often I meet new "friends" there. Anne Lamott is one of them. I was only a page or two into this book when I found myself laughing out loud!
(I should say that I am waiting for my son who is beginning OGT testing today. Waiting in a very quite hall with other parents - who also are waiting- in a conference center located on a college campus)
Outbursts are frowned upon....
Personally, I don't think we could be more different. Anne is from CA, an adventurous, politically-left socialite who is the daughter of a writer herself. I am a pastor's wife who grew up in the buckle of the Bible-belt, cautious, liberal-conservative....who always loved to read! Ahhh.... a link! That and the one that shouts "kindred spirit"....she loves Jesus!
Her writing is fresh, insightful and REAL! I can't wait to delve back into these pages and I am on the lookout for more of her writings!
(I should say that I am waiting for my son who is beginning OGT testing today. Waiting in a very quite hall with other parents - who also are waiting- in a conference center located on a college campus)
Outbursts are frowned upon....
Personally, I don't think we could be more different. Anne is from CA, an adventurous, politically-left socialite who is the daughter of a writer herself. I am a pastor's wife who grew up in the buckle of the Bible-belt, cautious, liberal-conservative....who always loved to read! Ahhh.... a link! That and the one that shouts "kindred spirit"....she loves Jesus!
Her writing is fresh, insightful and REAL! I can't wait to delve back into these pages and I am on the lookout for more of her writings!
March 2, 2011
I found this book to be not about grace, but about the author telling her story to help herself. She appears to have very little
grace if you don't agree with her political or social views which seem quite narrow minded for a liberal. Implying that George
Bush is responsible for the failed economy and potential closing of the Salinas, CA public libraries is one example. I seriously doubt the poorest town
in California collapsed economically solely during the Bush era. It seems almost a part political manifesto and
part monologue on the martyrdom of raising a child and recovering from addictive behaviors. She seems to act as if she is the
only person to ever raise an insolent teenager or suffer the loss of a friend. It just transitions from one story
abruptly to another topic. Rather strange in its composition.
This is the first Lamott book I've read, so it would take a glowing recommendation for me to read another.
grace if you don't agree with her political or social views which seem quite narrow minded for a liberal. Implying that George
Bush is responsible for the failed economy and potential closing of the Salinas, CA public libraries is one example. I seriously doubt the poorest town
in California collapsed economically solely during the Bush era. It seems almost a part political manifesto and
part monologue on the martyrdom of raising a child and recovering from addictive behaviors. She seems to act as if she is the
only person to ever raise an insolent teenager or suffer the loss of a friend. It just transitions from one story
abruptly to another topic. Rather strange in its composition.
This is the first Lamott book I've read, so it would take a glowing recommendation for me to read another.
December 6, 2007
I have been a die-hard Anne Lamott fan for the past 12+ years. Maybe this is a case of listening to your favorite album in high school over and over until you just can't hear it one more time. (Good God did I just type the word album?) I started this book and Lamott still writes with her great sarcastic wit, profound spirituality, and honesty intermixed with her parenting struggles, but this time, despite the many pieces of good spiritual advice I came across, I found myself shirking from reading this instead of looking forward to it. Instead of laughing along with her and feeling comforted by her struggles in life, I now felt annoyed that someone with her life was complaining or struggling. I mean, really, she has more friends in her life than I think most people have over their entire lifetimes, a house with a mountain behind her in California and a strong spiritual community, and so she ends up sounding like she's whining. Having said that - if it's your first Lamott book, you'll enjoy it. If, like me, you've been reading her for years, you might want to just find it in the library and read a chapter before you even take it home.
May 10, 2010
Yesterday was a difficult 6 year anniversary, as well as a difficult one-week anniversary. Lamott's essays about faith were a soothing balm, and I gobbled up about half of this book on and off, as I did other things yesterday afternoon. It came to me in a weird way, too, in that another librarian at my branch had put a hold on it, because she had forgotten that she had already read it. I stuck a note in it last Saturday when I saw her hold, asking her to let me know how it was. Yesterday she handed it off to me, and the other children's librarian (hi Anina!) in my branch also said that she had read and liked it.
There are 7 sections of 2 or 3 essays apiece. I absolutely loved the first 3. The 4th, Forgivishness, annoyed me. I guess in a good way, because I kept reading, and I'm now on the 6th section, which has already brought tears to my eyes. Took me 3 days to completely finish this (late last night). When I woke up this morning, I was looking forward to reading some more. I think this is the first time I have "missed" a collection of essays. I Love it! Luckily, she's published other books of essays! 4 1/2 stars.
There are 7 sections of 2 or 3 essays apiece. I absolutely loved the first 3. The 4th, Forgivishness, annoyed me. I guess in a good way, because I kept reading, and I'm now on the 6th section, which has already brought tears to my eyes. Took me 3 days to completely finish this (late last night). When I woke up this morning, I was looking forward to reading some more. I think this is the first time I have "missed" a collection of essays. I Love it! Luckily, she's published other books of essays! 4 1/2 stars.
December 12, 2012
Would recommend: No
I chose this book because I found Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith to be interesting and thought-provoking. This book, however, was excessively, provokingly political, and the wandery style grated on me after a while. Instead of "Thoughts on Faith," a more fitting subtitle might be, "Random Stories Loosely Related to Somewhat Spiritual Thoughts, but Mostly Why I Hate the Bush Administration." Now, I am no great lover of Bush, but please. That is not what I signed on for. I got through about 3/4 of the book before the hard-hitting political rhetoric finally tipped me over the edge, and I punched the button on my car's stereo to switch from CD to Top 40 radio. Harrumph.
I chose this book because I found Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith to be interesting and thought-provoking. This book, however, was excessively, provokingly political, and the wandery style grated on me after a while. Instead of "Thoughts on Faith," a more fitting subtitle might be, "Random Stories Loosely Related to Somewhat Spiritual Thoughts, but Mostly Why I Hate the Bush Administration." Now, I am no great lover of Bush, but please. That is not what I signed on for. I got through about 3/4 of the book before the hard-hitting political rhetoric finally tipped me over the edge, and I punched the button on my car's stereo to switch from CD to Top 40 radio. Harrumph.
January 14, 2011
This was fabulous. I read Bird by Bird several years ago, but then forgot about Anne Lamott. Glad I found this one. Her style is so easy to read - it's more like a conversation as she struggles and achieves a life filled with grace.
July 2, 2016
I made it to page 75 before I grew weary of the egocentrism and annoyed at the gratuitous GOP-bashing in almost every single chapter. That didn't seem much like grace to me, but maybe that happens (eventually). It's a pity because I loved Lamott's writing style.
September 4, 2010
Just reading the other reviews of this book took me on an emotional roller coaster--since I agreed with much of the praise as well as the criticism--so you can imagine what reading the book did. Anne Lamott is one of the most gifted writers I've known, with a unique voice and unusual blend of vivid intensity, self-deprecating humor, and raw honesty about her own neuroses and judgmental attitudes, swirled around with a "born again" faith and intense willingness to fight for most underdogs. I can't help but admit to a grudging admiration of this honesty -- about herself and about others -- at the same time that it often made me wince or cringe. She's complicated, and if we're honest with ourselves, so are we.
This book is a compilation of reflections on life, love, and faith. What Anne Lamott does best is allow you to view the world from her eyes and perspective and see ordinary things in different ways. Her power of observation is acute, and she brings you right into an experience or emotion with remarkable intensity. I confess that when I found myself the most offended by something she said, I had to admit that she often tore the scab off to expose raw flaws in myself that hide under the more socially acceptable exterior. We judge people like Anne Lamott at our peril, because we are all a mess, deep down, and her message of God's unconditional love is so, so important. God loves us, so we must learn to love ourselves. And then, of course, if we'll just get out of the way and let it happen, God's love pours through us to others. "Being human can be so dispiriting," she says. "It is a real stretch for me a lot of the time."
Here are some things that I highlighted from this book:
"These are the words I want on my gravestone: that I was a helper, and that I danced."
"A man at church once told me never to give the devil a ride. Because if he likes the ride, pretty soon he'll want to drive. It felt as if someone determined and famished had taken the wheel."
"My pastor, Veronica, says that believing isn't the hard part; waiting on God is."
"Sometimes I think that Jesus watches my neurotic struggles, and shakes his head, and grips his forehead and starts tossing back mojitos."
"Joy is the best makeup. Joy, and good lighting. If you ask me, a little lipstick is a close runner-up."
"Behold! It is an exhortation, not a whiny demand..."
"...And I realized once again that we're punished not for our hatred, for not forgiving people, but by it.
"...the great Helping Prayer, which goes: 'Helphelphelphelp. Helphelphelphelp."
"But I have to believe that Jesus prefers honesty to anything else...I was saying, 'Here's who I am,' and that is where most improvement has to begin."
"I realized just then that sin and grace are not opposites, but partners, like the genes in DNA, or the stages of childbirth."
So I finished this book with a lot of conflicting emotions and opinions, but I think Anne Lamott would understand my responsive prayer spoken by Dickens's character Tiny Tim from A Christmas Carol, "God bless us, every one!"
This book is a compilation of reflections on life, love, and faith. What Anne Lamott does best is allow you to view the world from her eyes and perspective and see ordinary things in different ways. Her power of observation is acute, and she brings you right into an experience or emotion with remarkable intensity. I confess that when I found myself the most offended by something she said, I had to admit that she often tore the scab off to expose raw flaws in myself that hide under the more socially acceptable exterior. We judge people like Anne Lamott at our peril, because we are all a mess, deep down, and her message of God's unconditional love is so, so important. God loves us, so we must learn to love ourselves. And then, of course, if we'll just get out of the way and let it happen, God's love pours through us to others. "Being human can be so dispiriting," she says. "It is a real stretch for me a lot of the time."
Here are some things that I highlighted from this book:
"These are the words I want on my gravestone: that I was a helper, and that I danced."
"A man at church once told me never to give the devil a ride. Because if he likes the ride, pretty soon he'll want to drive. It felt as if someone determined and famished had taken the wheel."
"My pastor, Veronica, says that believing isn't the hard part; waiting on God is."
"Sometimes I think that Jesus watches my neurotic struggles, and shakes his head, and grips his forehead and starts tossing back mojitos."
"Joy is the best makeup. Joy, and good lighting. If you ask me, a little lipstick is a close runner-up."
"Behold! It is an exhortation, not a whiny demand..."
"...And I realized once again that we're punished not for our hatred, for not forgiving people, but by it.
"...the great Helping Prayer, which goes: 'Helphelphelphelp. Helphelphelphelp."
"But I have to believe that Jesus prefers honesty to anything else...I was saying, 'Here's who I am,' and that is where most improvement has to begin."
"I realized just then that sin and grace are not opposites, but partners, like the genes in DNA, or the stages of childbirth."
So I finished this book with a lot of conflicting emotions and opinions, but I think Anne Lamott would understand my responsive prayer spoken by Dickens's character Tiny Tim from A Christmas Carol, "God bless us, every one!"
December 9, 2009
A lot of the reviews I've read of this book from fans of Lamott's are rather harsh, so perhaps it works out in my favor that I'm going into this totally unfarmiliar with her work. As a newcomer, I really enjoyed it, even though it wasn't entirely what I was expecting.
Lamott has a unique, lyrical, absolutely beautiful style of writing that instantly draws the reader in. It's clear that she tries to see joy in everything and everyone (part of one essay is devoted to her- sucessful, I might add- attempt to stop hating George W. Bush) and that too comes across in her writing- nevertheless, she's not above the black humour that makes all of the great memoirists worth reading. So her style wins her lots of points.
As for content, it's a mixed bag. Most of the essays are wonderful, a few go nowhere and seem to have no real point. They're also divided into sections, often for no apparent reason- the only section with any continuous theme is "Samwheel", in which all the essays are about Lamott's son.
I think a big part of the reason I liked this book so much is that I see a lot of myself in Lamott. A Christian who sometimes struggles with her faith, is inspired by the Zen and Buddist spiritual leaders, is against the war in Iraq, and is pro-choice? That's me! So identifying with Lamott was no problem for me. It will, however, be a problem for the many conservative Christians who will pick up this book expecting to find something more akin to their own philosophy. Even I was a little confused by the fact that the books advertised itself as "Thoughts on Faith" but didn't seem to contain a large number of thoughts on faith- at least not any more than thoughts on politics, family, friends, or getting older. In the end, though, I thought it was a great book, and am looking forward to reading Lamott's other works, which if other reviewers are to be believed are even better.
Lamott has a unique, lyrical, absolutely beautiful style of writing that instantly draws the reader in. It's clear that she tries to see joy in everything and everyone (part of one essay is devoted to her- sucessful, I might add- attempt to stop hating George W. Bush) and that too comes across in her writing- nevertheless, she's not above the black humour that makes all of the great memoirists worth reading. So her style wins her lots of points.
As for content, it's a mixed bag. Most of the essays are wonderful, a few go nowhere and seem to have no real point. They're also divided into sections, often for no apparent reason- the only section with any continuous theme is "Samwheel", in which all the essays are about Lamott's son.
I think a big part of the reason I liked this book so much is that I see a lot of myself in Lamott. A Christian who sometimes struggles with her faith, is inspired by the Zen and Buddist spiritual leaders, is against the war in Iraq, and is pro-choice? That's me! So identifying with Lamott was no problem for me. It will, however, be a problem for the many conservative Christians who will pick up this book expecting to find something more akin to their own philosophy. Even I was a little confused by the fact that the books advertised itself as "Thoughts on Faith" but didn't seem to contain a large number of thoughts on faith- at least not any more than thoughts on politics, family, friends, or getting older. In the end, though, I thought it was a great book, and am looking forward to reading Lamott's other works, which if other reviewers are to be believed are even better.
February 16, 2017
I loved Anne Lamott's Traveling Mercies when I read it years ago. It is inevitable that I will compare this book to that, and I did not feel that this book was as great.
Anne's writing quality is still above average; she writes in easy to read prose and paints beautiful pictures with words. Many of her stories wonderfully illustrate themes of grace and trust in God. At the same time, there is not much here that will be memorable. Perhaps the biggest problem with the book is her near constant, in the latter half, references to Bush, who was president when this book was written. Talking about the darkness in her life as a result of the Bush presidency and how we will all be living in caves one day because of our leaders seems a bit dramatic. Writing this way, as if her entire world was a dark horrid place for eight years, rings hollow when we recognize so many of the real problems in the world and the fact that most (probably all) are not the fault of former President Bush.
What I appreciate most from reading Anne's books is her honesty. I enjoy reading stories of someone's life who is a Christian, who has a deep relationship with Jesus, but who is very different from me. The chapters where she speaks of assisted suicide and abortion will be shocking for many evangelical Christians (they were for me). Overall though, that is not why I was not a huge fan of the book. It simply did not strike me with many moving stories and profound lessons.
Anne's writing quality is still above average; she writes in easy to read prose and paints beautiful pictures with words. Many of her stories wonderfully illustrate themes of grace and trust in God. At the same time, there is not much here that will be memorable. Perhaps the biggest problem with the book is her near constant, in the latter half, references to Bush, who was president when this book was written. Talking about the darkness in her life as a result of the Bush presidency and how we will all be living in caves one day because of our leaders seems a bit dramatic. Writing this way, as if her entire world was a dark horrid place for eight years, rings hollow when we recognize so many of the real problems in the world and the fact that most (probably all) are not the fault of former President Bush.
What I appreciate most from reading Anne's books is her honesty. I enjoy reading stories of someone's life who is a Christian, who has a deep relationship with Jesus, but who is very different from me. The chapters where she speaks of assisted suicide and abortion will be shocking for many evangelical Christians (they were for me). Overall though, that is not why I was not a huge fan of the book. It simply did not strike me with many moving stories and profound lessons.
August 23, 2008
I just became aware that there was an Anne Lamott book, a new one, that I haven't read yet. Old enough to be out in paperback. So I picked it up at the beach and read it in an afternoon/evening (finished at midnight).
I truly love Anne Lamott, and so I suppose I am willing to be more forgiving of this book, just like you overlook the faults of a family member because they're usually a lot of fun to be with. Anne Lamott is usually someone who keeps me in stitches, but I think I only managed a few quiet chuckles this time.
She is quieter in this book, yes. And more than that, she re-tells things that she's told before....but in a re-inventing kind of way. Like she's looking at events through the lense of maturity and re-interpreting them. I found that interesting and worth a direct comparison of the two different versions.
So, I enjoyed this book, but don't read this as your first Anne Lamott book. Go for one of her classics that'll keep you laughing and coming back for more.
I truly love Anne Lamott, and so I suppose I am willing to be more forgiving of this book, just like you overlook the faults of a family member because they're usually a lot of fun to be with. Anne Lamott is usually someone who keeps me in stitches, but I think I only managed a few quiet chuckles this time.
She is quieter in this book, yes. And more than that, she re-tells things that she's told before....but in a re-inventing kind of way. Like she's looking at events through the lense of maturity and re-interpreting them. I found that interesting and worth a direct comparison of the two different versions.
So, I enjoyed this book, but don't read this as your first Anne Lamott book. Go for one of her classics that'll keep you laughing and coming back for more.
August 17, 2017
I probably picked the wrong book for my first Lamott read. I really wanted to like this one, especially since I have so many friends who love and recommend her writing and wisdom. I almost bailed after the essay about working with disabled children because of some of the ableist tropes/language she uses (and continues to use throughout).
I liked the section on Samwheel and parenting and a few sparse nuggets interwoven between, but this collection does not come together as a cohesive piece. If not for the title I wouldn't walk away thinking that the theme had anything to do with grace or faith. I agree with other reviewers that Lamott shouldn't narrate her own work. I do admire the honesty in her writing and will probably try another Lamott at some point, but this one was a flop for me.
I liked the section on Samwheel and parenting and a few sparse nuggets interwoven between, but this collection does not come together as a cohesive piece. If not for the title I wouldn't walk away thinking that the theme had anything to do with grace or faith. I agree with other reviewers that Lamott shouldn't narrate her own work. I do admire the honesty in her writing and will probably try another Lamott at some point, but this one was a flop for me.
March 19, 2013
I can only count this as 1/2 in my book total. I honestly can't take it anymore. I'm sure there is a message about faith in there somewhere, but Lamott can't seem to get off her soap box about every conservative politician she can name. I ended my pursuits on her thoughts on faith when she said something about trying to blame the rain on President Bush. She went to great lengths in a previous chapter to explain how she let go of her hatred of him, but I suspect she might want to revisit that again. Obviously, we don't have similar views on politics and I often enjoy hearing other perspectives, but not when it is done with such little respect and so much hate. Lets see if Lee Childs can entertain me with an exciting mystery.
February 27, 2016
Ugh. As a fan of Anne Lamott, I have to say this is not one of Anne's best books. There are WAY too many political rants in this one. It was readable, but I had to skip many chapters b/c it was annoyingly full of political vitriol. And the title thoughts on faith leads one to believe that the content will be just that- thoughts on faith. This was more a compilation of anecdotes with some mention of grace. I'm moving on to another book of hers which I hope will be better.
May 8, 2022
Not my favorite Lamott. The audio quality was pretty bad. Some of the stories felt extra whiney. But also woven in with some stories that made me laugh so hard I almost cried.
February 7, 2016
I read this book on a layover at O'Hare airport. Enough said.
But not quite: this book was disappointing on numerous levels. Much of it is repetitive musings about raising a child that the reader never really gets to know other than as a catalyst for the author's own navel-gazing. That sounds unfair, but I don't mean it to be. Each chapter included a very dated and self-righteous musing on how George Bush destroyed the world. I mean I get it; I'm a pacifist. But after a while all I wanted to say was: "okay, I get it. You hate Bush and he somehow ruined your life. But the cultural protests quickly gave way to political tirades. I'm sorry that the author was in a spiritually comatose state following the 2004 elections; but such musings show how little foresight the book has. It lost it's value and voice in 2008.
Beyond my frustrations with the content, I was terribly disappointed in the writing. There's endless paragraphs that have vague descriptions and leave the reader with no concrete images outside of the author's (admittedly self-aware) bias. The chapters aren't engaging; there's very little cohesive thought and- again- the only dominant themes are raising a child that one sometimes cannot stand and how Bush is the spawn of Lucifer.
Overall, this book seems like an unfortunate case of a talented novelist riding the coat tails of her literary success with a poor sample of essays.
But not quite: this book was disappointing on numerous levels. Much of it is repetitive musings about raising a child that the reader never really gets to know other than as a catalyst for the author's own navel-gazing. That sounds unfair, but I don't mean it to be. Each chapter included a very dated and self-righteous musing on how George Bush destroyed the world. I mean I get it; I'm a pacifist. But after a while all I wanted to say was: "okay, I get it. You hate Bush and he somehow ruined your life. But the cultural protests quickly gave way to political tirades. I'm sorry that the author was in a spiritually comatose state following the 2004 elections; but such musings show how little foresight the book has. It lost it's value and voice in 2008.
Beyond my frustrations with the content, I was terribly disappointed in the writing. There's endless paragraphs that have vague descriptions and leave the reader with no concrete images outside of the author's (admittedly self-aware) bias. The chapters aren't engaging; there's very little cohesive thought and- again- the only dominant themes are raising a child that one sometimes cannot stand and how Bush is the spawn of Lucifer.
Overall, this book seems like an unfortunate case of a talented novelist riding the coat tails of her literary success with a poor sample of essays.
March 16, 2009
Now THIS is the kind of book I would write, if I were ever to be a writer. Full of large and small truths and honest interpretations of life. Anne meanders sometimes through her passages - but usually gets back to the point. You allow yourself to be patient for her message because she's often interjecting humor. Cool author - would love to have conversation & lunch with her...she's tapped into the everyday ordinary yet has an eye for the profound. Anyway, loved the book - so enthused I'd like to start writing again. Currently with pen in hand--or fingers to keypad...
A favorite quote (though there are many): "That's me, trying to make any progress at all with family, in work, relationsips, self-image: scootch, scootch, stall; scootch, stall, catastrophic reversal; bog, bog, scootch. I wish grace and healing were more abracadabra kinds of things; also, that delicate silver bells would ring to announce grace's arrival. But no, it's clog and slog and scootch, on the floor, in silence, in the dark. I suppose that if you were snatched out of the mess, you'd miss the lesson; the lesson is the slog."
A favorite quote (though there are many): "That's me, trying to make any progress at all with family, in work, relationsips, self-image: scootch, scootch, stall; scootch, stall, catastrophic reversal; bog, bog, scootch. I wish grace and healing were more abracadabra kinds of things; also, that delicate silver bells would ring to announce grace's arrival. But no, it's clog and slog and scootch, on the floor, in silence, in the dark. I suppose that if you were snatched out of the mess, you'd miss the lesson; the lesson is the slog."
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