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Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing…
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Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (edition 1995)

by Anne Lamott

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
10,154238711 (4.14)274
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * An essential volume for generations of writers young and old. The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of this modern classic will continue to spark creative minds for years to come. Anne Lamott is "a warm, generous, and hilarious guide through the writer's world and its treacherous swamps" (Los Angeles Times).  "Superb writing advice.... Hilarious, helpful, and provocative." --The New York Times Book Review For a quarter century, more than a million readers--scribes and scribblers of all ages and abilities--have been inspired by Anne Lamott's hilarious, big-hearted, homespun advice. Advice that begins with the simple words of wisdom passed down from Anne's father--also a writer--in the iconic passage that gives the book its title: "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.'"… (more)
Member:kimberlyn_lydia
Title:Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Authors:Anne Lamott
Info:Anchor (1995), Edition: 1, Paperback, 239 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:
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Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

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» See also 274 mentions

English (237)  Dutch (1)  All languages (238)
Showing 1-5 of 237 (next | show all)
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. ( )
  HenrySt123 | Jan 31, 2024 |
Absolutely charming, but stale and a little oblivious. ( )
  ethorwitz | Jan 3, 2024 |
I so identify with every small feeling and anxiety she has about herself and others that I'm almost ready to sign up for her support groups and church suppers. The insights into writing and ego and truth reflected and articulated here are so authentic that it seems like revealed truth, like truth I already knew. It also made me feel extremely neurotic. ( )
  jennifergeran | Dec 23, 2023 |
This book is over-rated. I can see why this book is so popular, but Lamott just tries too hard to be funny. Her two key concepts, working with small assignments and producing shitty first drafts, are valuable, although most working writers figure them out on their own.

Honestly, I enjoyed the prologue more than the rest of the book. ( )
  LizzK | Dec 8, 2023 |
Fantastic insights and advice on the writing life. Lamott has a breezy voice, filled with humor and a healthy dose of sarcasm. She doesn't sugarcoat the tougher aspects of embarking upon a writing career, and she makes it clear from the beginning that the goal of publication is not the fabulous end-all-and-be-all so many people make it out to be. Writing is its own reward even when it's painful, frustrating and just damned hard. Lamott never lets us forget that. (A) ( )
  Elizabeth_Cooper | Oct 27, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 237 (next | show all)
A gift to all of us mortals who write or ever wanted to write...sidesplittingly funny, patiently wise and alternately cranky and kind--a reveille to get off our duffs and start writing now, while we still can.
added by ArrowStead | editSeattle Times
 
Superb writing advice...hilarious, helpful and provocative.
added by ArrowStead | editNew York Times Book Review
 
A warm, generous, and hilarious guide through the writer's world and its treacherous swamps.
added by ArrowStead | editLos Angeles Times
 

» Add other authors (15 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Anne Lamottprimary authorall editionscalculated
Bennett, SusanNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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I grew up around a father and a mother who read every chance they got, who took us to the library every Thursday night to load up on books for the coming week.
Quotations
…getting all of one’s addictions under control is a little like putting an octopus to bed.
...perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor.
I understood immediately the thrill of seeing oneself in print. It provides some sort of primal verifications. You are; therefore you exist.
If you find that you start a number of stories or pieces that you don't even bother finishing, that you lose interest or faith in them along the way, it may be that there is nothing at their center about which you care passionately.
…if you are writing the clearest, truest words you can find and doing the best you can to understand and communicate, this will shine on paper like its own little lighthouse.”
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * An essential volume for generations of writers young and old. The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of this modern classic will continue to spark creative minds for years to come. Anne Lamott is "a warm, generous, and hilarious guide through the writer's world and its treacherous swamps" (Los Angeles Times).  "Superb writing advice.... Hilarious, helpful, and provocative." --The New York Times Book Review For a quarter century, more than a million readers--scribes and scribblers of all ages and abilities--have been inspired by Anne Lamott's hilarious, big-hearted, homespun advice. Advice that begins with the simple words of wisdom passed down from Anne's father--also a writer--in the iconic passage that gives the book its title: "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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I found this book in a library after my life fell apart one rainy day in California. I thought the writing was so clean and simple and straight forward and funny that I almost cried with happiness. Telling the truth is really hard, but writing the truth is almost impossible. After that day, I went back to college for a few decades...so glad I did.
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Penguin Australia

An edition of this book was published by Penguin Australia.

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