Writing Is My Drink

Anne Lamott writes and speaks about subjects that begin with capital letters:

Alcoholism, Motherhood, Jesus. But armed with self-effacing humor – she
is laugh-out-loud funny – and ruthless honesty, Lamott converts her
subjects into enchantment. Actually, she writes about what most of us
don’t like to think about. She wrote her first novel for her father, the
writer Kenneth Lamott, when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. She has
said that the book was “a present to someone I loved who was going to
die.” In all her novels, she writes about loss – loss of loved ones and loss of personal
control. She doesn’t try to sugar-coat the sadness, frustration and disappointment, but
tells her stories with honesty, compassion and a pureness of voice. As she says, “I have
a lot of hope and a lot of faith and I struggle to communicate that.” Anne Lamott does
communicate her faith; in her books and in person, she lifts, comforts, and inspires, all the
while keeping us laughing.
Anne Lamott is the author of seven novels including, Hard Laughter, Rosie, Joe Jones, Blue Shoe, All New People, Crooked Little Heart, and Imperfect Birds. She has also written several bestselling books of nonfiction, including, Operating Instructions, an account of life as a single mother during her son’s first year followed by Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son’s First Son, and a writing guide; Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. She has also authored three collections of autobiographical essays on faith; Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, and Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith. In her latest book of non-fiction, Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers. Ms. Lamott gives us three prayers to assist us in trying times. Her next book is entitled Stitches; A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair, an honest, funny book about how to make sense of life’s chaos (Oct 2013).
Lamott has been honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship, and has taught at UC Davis,
as well as at writing conferences across the country. Lamott’s biweekly Salon magazine
“online diary,” Word by Word, was voted The Best of the Web by TIME magazine. Academy Award–winning filmmaker Freida Mock has made a documentary on Lamott, entitled “Bird by Bird with Annie” (1999). Anne Lamott has also been inducted into the California Hall of Fame.