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37th out of 381 books
—
440 voters
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
by
Anne Lamott (Goodreads Author)
With the trademark wisdom, humor, and honesty that made Anne Lamott's book on faith, Traveling Mercies, a runaway bestseller, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith is a spiritual antidote to anxiety and despair in increasingly fraught times.
The world is a more dangerous place than it was when Lamott's Traveling Mercies was published five years ago. Terrorism and war have beco...more
The world is a more dangerous place than it was when Lamott's Traveling Mercies was published five years ago. Terrorism and war have beco...more
Paperback, 336 pages
Published
March 28th 2006
by Riverhead Trade
(first published 2004)
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I love Anne LaMott. In fact, on my trip to northern California next weekend to the Mt. Hermon Christian Writer's Assoc. I am bugging out on Sunday to drive a rental car to Marin County to attend her church and just MAKE her be my friend and read my book. Our lives run parallel, only I realized it before she did as she got off her duff sooner than did I.
We are both single moms. We both share recovery from addiction. We both have memorable hair, hers in dreadlocks, mine sticking straight up from m...more
We are both single moms. We both share recovery from addiction. We both have memorable hair, hers in dreadlocks, mine sticking straight up from m...more
Jul 14, 2007
Melinda
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people who are interested in authentic spirituality
Shelves:
essays
I read this book on a binge. Started it and couldn't put it down, the reading equivalent of a bag of chocolate chip cookies in front of the T.V. I've read her other books and still think Bird by Bird is the best book on writing I've ever read, but this one kinda snuck up on me. At first, I thought it was just going to be some funny bits, some thoughts on spirituality, and some ranting about Bush. Then, when Lamott suggests that she'll finally be able to forgive W. when they're sitting side by si...more
Traveling Mercies chronicled Lamott's slow journey toward faith. Now in her 50s, Lamott still insists upon sugarcoating nothing in this enlightening update. She combines brilliant sparks of wit, self-deprecating humor, wisdom, and appreciation in these 24 essays, previously published in Salon (see http://dir.salon.com/topics/anne_lamott/ for an excerpt from Plan B). If some have a moralistic bent, they rarely proselytize; instead, they inquire into Lamott's own, and sometimes naughty, truths. Th
...more
I've done a couple more book reviews on my recently reactivated blog warrenwade.wordpress.com.
If you're familiar withAnne Lamottor have read some of her more intentionally theological pieces like "Traveling Mercies" before, you know that she's quite the eccentric writer but that, just when you think her story couldn't have anythingless to do with God, she levels you with brilliant spiritual truths.
If you've never read Lamott before, she'sdabbled in fiction,has offered great guidance and assuranc...more
If you're familiar withAnne Lamottor have read some of her more intentionally theological pieces like "Traveling Mercies" before, you know that she's quite the eccentric writer but that, just when you think her story couldn't have anythingless to do with God, she levels you with brilliant spiritual truths.
If you've never read Lamott before, she'sdabbled in fiction,has offered great guidance and assuranc...more
Overall, so well written. Maybe Lamott should have let some time pass before publishing her anti-Bush rants. One, it's so bitter. Two, it dates the book. Three, it takes away from the more lovely, insightful essays. Example: my favourite essay is "heat" (chapter 9). In it Lamott reveals all that's annoying about being a parent.
Ex: "One reason I think we get so angry with our children is that we can. Who else is there that you can talk to like this? Can you imagine saying to your partner, "You g...more
Ex: "One reason I think we get so angry with our children is that we can. Who else is there that you can talk to like this? Can you imagine saying to your partner, "You g...more
Anne Lamott is sort of off her rocker. And I love her so very much for this. Whereas so many Christian writers seem pulled together, even in the worst of times, Lamott is not. She struggles like the rest of us. She cries. She yells. She says things she doesn’t mean (and says mean things she does mean). She has no idea what she’s doing most of the time. Yet she still manages to practice a very real grace to those around her. She loves deeply, and practices real forgiveness. She is self-depricatin...more
I think that Anne Lamott may be my favorite author right now. This is the second book I have read and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Since I believe in God, I love reading books by other believers who aren't ashamed of their faith. Anne Lamott is such an author, but her books are by no means preachy or self-righteous. Instead, she writes with humor and honestly about her struggles with every day life as she tries to survive in these crazy times, raise her teen-aged son and be an authentic Christ...more
Anne Lamott captures some powerful truths in this book...I hope I never forget the section below...
"What are you supposed to do, when what is happening can't be? When it's all too scary and weirdly fascinating and grim, and the old rules no longer apply? I remember this feeling when my mother was in the last stages of Alzheimer's, when my brothers and I needed so much more to go on than we had -- explanations, plans, a tour guide, and hope that it really wasn't going to be all that bad. But then...more
"What are you supposed to do, when what is happening can't be? When it's all too scary and weirdly fascinating and grim, and the old rules no longer apply? I remember this feeling when my mother was in the last stages of Alzheimer's, when my brothers and I needed so much more to go on than we had -- explanations, plans, a tour guide, and hope that it really wasn't going to be all that bad. But then...more
Anne Lamott is a funny person. I’ve thought so since I read her writer’s guide, “Bird by Bird.” After a few novels, she started writing more autobiographical pieces. One of the previous, “Operating Instructions” was about her son. “Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith” continues her musings on life, her son, and faith.
Anne’s been through a lot. She had a father who was also a writer and a drinker, and she herself was addicted to substances when she was younger. She changed some things around and fo...more
Anne’s been through a lot. She had a father who was also a writer and a drinker, and she herself was addicted to substances when she was younger. She changed some things around and fo...more
"Bird By Bird" was recommended to me by the fabulously talented Pearl Cleage, when I encountered her after her appearance(to promote her, at-that-time-upcoming book, "What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day") at Agnes Scott's Lit Fest. I believe this was in 1997 or 1998.
I read the book with excitement, and Anne Lamott(as well as Ms. Cleage) are favorite authors to this day.
"Plan B" was published in 2005, just a short time after the 2004 election.
Let me give you the first few lines of "Plan B"....more
I read the book with excitement, and Anne Lamott(as well as Ms. Cleage) are favorite authors to this day.
"Plan B" was published in 2005, just a short time after the 2004 election.
Let me give you the first few lines of "Plan B"....more
i'm biased with my stars, because the book is probably 4 stars, but Annie being Annie makes it a full five. although they'd be sort of odd company, i think of her and Madeleine L'Engle as the two women who have done more for me to embrace my faith and get comfy with it instead of bristle at all the stuff that comes with it that makes me feel squidgy and annoyed. i do love her earthy, authentic words about life & faith intersecting in all its messiness. for this girl who grew up in a very cle...more
Reading this book made me feel good. It's funny and honest and sprinkled with profanity, but in the end, every essay is life-affirming and love-affirming.
She's so good, she made me consider going to church sometime. That's no small thing. I am a non-religious but open-minded person who gets very bored during sermons. Bored, or alienated.
The last time I tried out a Christian church -- the first time since high school -- the guest speaker spent 45 minutes telling us we were God's chosen ones, th...more
She's so good, she made me consider going to church sometime. That's no small thing. I am a non-religious but open-minded person who gets very bored during sermons. Bored, or alienated.
The last time I tried out a Christian church -- the first time since high school -- the guest speaker spent 45 minutes telling us we were God's chosen ones, th...more
Once again I'm gobsmacked by Anne Lamott. When I read her writing, I think "please, God, if you let me write just half as well, I'll never ask you for anything else again." Then God tells me that in order to write like Anne Lamott I'd have to think like Anne Lamott, and that, says God, apologetically, isn't within the realm of possibility. Anne Lamott's writing makes me want to be better--not in the traditional "Oh, I'm so terrible, I should be more holy" kind of way, but in the "Yep, I had more...more
Just a few passages that struck me:
The Church of 80% Sincerity (109-110)
-80% sincerity is about as good as it's going to get. So is 80% compassion. 80% celibacy. So 20% of the time, you just get to be yourself.
-This is contrary to everything society leads us to believe - that it's 100% or nothing
-In the Church of 80% Sincerity, everyone has come to understand that unconditional love is a reality, but with a shelf life of about 8 to 10 seconds. Instead of beating yourself up because you feel it o...more
The Church of 80% Sincerity (109-110)
-80% sincerity is about as good as it's going to get. So is 80% compassion. 80% celibacy. So 20% of the time, you just get to be yourself.
-This is contrary to everything society leads us to believe - that it's 100% or nothing
-In the Church of 80% Sincerity, everyone has come to understand that unconditional love is a reality, but with a shelf life of about 8 to 10 seconds. Instead of beating yourself up because you feel it o...more
I had avoided this book because I had confused this author with an Anne of another name, whom I did not like. Then, I was driving somewhere and heard an interview with Anne Lamott, thought to myself that there was someone that I would like to listen to more and went looking for books by her. If you think (and wonder) about your relationship with things spiritual, this is a wonderful book. She is Christian, but I don't think that is a necessary condition for readers. The author seems quite honest...more
Anne Lamott is equal parts genius and wacko, and I think she'd probably agree with me.
This book, like others she has written, takes moments in her life and compares them to faith and her understanding of God (whoever "She" may be...). I absolutely love her writing style and her comparisons. Half the time she says what's in my head that I would be too afraid to ever say out loud, much less write for the world to see. The other half the time she's so far off from my own life experiences I have a h...more
This book, like others she has written, takes moments in her life and compares them to faith and her understanding of God (whoever "She" may be...). I absolutely love her writing style and her comparisons. Half the time she says what's in my head that I would be too afraid to ever say out loud, much less write for the world to see. The other half the time she's so far off from my own life experiences I have a h...more
This book was at times funny, engaging, and earnest. I enjoyed the author's honesty and willingness to take on SOME topics - around parenting, for example - that are rarely broached. Over all, however, I found it a self-indulgent, obsessive endeavor on the part of the author.
The stories were held loosely together by the "faith" thread - but Ms. Lamott didn't engage thoughtfully or analytically with the topic of faith. It just happens that she's a member of a church and the community of her chur...more
The stories were held loosely together by the "faith" thread - but Ms. Lamott didn't engage thoughtfully or analytically with the topic of faith. It just happens that she's a member of a church and the community of her chur...more
It's possible that Lamott's unapologetic left-leaning politics will irritate some readers. But. But it's so dear and innocent and basically ungrounded in arguments that, ironically, it's just harmless. And a nice corrective to the icky elements of American self-righteousness. Helping the poor and loving peace may not always be the best public policy choice, but it's always the best thing to have in one's heart.
Lamott's religion is so different than mine has been for much of my adult life--it's...more
Lamott's religion is so different than mine has been for much of my adult life--it's...more
I love Anne Lamott, but mainly because she is one of the few people in the world who seems as crazy as I feel. But I can't stand the way she hates on George Bush and conservatives. I have to wonder if she has anyone in her life who might put a face on conservatism for her, because she seems to try hard to show love and kindness to people, yet consistently rants about how much she despises non-liberals. I wish I could sit down and talk to her about the Bible. Anyway, I know that most of my friend...more
I loved Lamatt's Traveling Mercies and was excited to pick up her next book, but on the whole I was disappointed. Traveling Mercies was really raw in a way, with Lamott pouring her heart out and going into frank detail about her struggles with drugs, alcohol, the deaths of family and friends, and the eventual discovery of her faith. Even if you couldn't relate directly to her experiences, you empathized with her pain. In Plan B, her life has improved so much that she no longer has anything serio...more
I love Anne Lamott's work. And I enjoyed this book, just not quite as much as some others.
Some notes from the book:
- peace is joy at rest and joy is peace on its feet.
- forgiveness means it's finally unimportant that you hit back.
- one secret of life is that the reason life works at all is that not everyone in your tribe is nuts on the same day. Another secret is that laughter is carbonated holiness.
- President Kennedy received 2 letters from Russia during the Cuban Missile Crisis. One agre...more
Some notes from the book:
- peace is joy at rest and joy is peace on its feet.
- forgiveness means it's finally unimportant that you hit back.
- one secret of life is that the reason life works at all is that not everyone in your tribe is nuts on the same day. Another secret is that laughter is carbonated holiness.
- President Kennedy received 2 letters from Russia during the Cuban Missile Crisis. One agre...more
Let me state up front that I like learning about religions, but hate preachy books so don't often read anything like "spiritual memoirs". But I like Anne Lamott so well that I thought I'd give her a chance. And she delivered...as always she was touching, funny, and so very articulate. There are stories of motherhood, peace marches, the loss of a pet, the loss of her mother and making peace with her mom. She talks about her feelings through her faith but it's all about her, she's not preaching to...more
I suppose it's a little strange that I would really like this book given it's spiritual overtones, but Anne Lamott's unique blend of humor, observations on relationships and life in general ("Everyone has been having a hard time with life this year; not with all of it, just the waking hours"), not to mention her caustic comments about Bush even as she struggles to love him because her faith insists on it, should win over just about everyone. She can have you moved to tears as she describes the p...more
terrific writer. This collection of personal essays has faith as a connecting thread and mentions her church a lot but is not long on didactic or abstract discussions of religious issues. More of a religious/spiritual perspective on everyday life.
Big thumbs up to the parts about her teenage son, life as a single mom, blended family complications, and connecting with friends.
Big yawns to (a) the frequent vitriolic comments on how much she hates George W. Bush, and (b) angst about gaining weight...more
Big thumbs up to the parts about her teenage son, life as a single mom, blended family complications, and connecting with friends.
Big yawns to (a) the frequent vitriolic comments on how much she hates George W. Bush, and (b) angst about gaining weight...more
I listened to this on a recent road trip, although I have had it on my shelf for a few years. Go figure. The CD is read by the author, and I am pretty sure I enjoyed this book much better listening to it, than I would have reading it. Some books, especially nonfiction, are more interesting and easier to digest when heard aloud.
Anne Lamott is someone I easily relate with as she ponders how to live peacefully and happily in a world where so much is going wrong. She, like I was, is particularly d...more
Anne Lamott is someone I easily relate with as she ponders how to live peacefully and happily in a world where so much is going wrong. She, like I was, is particularly d...more
Somehow Plan B improves so far on Traveling Mercies that I prefer it, though as both were gifts this is a miniscule distinction. While the publisher played with margins of the text to beef up the size of the book in a way no professor would have allowed of any paper handed in, at any size this very non-academic text provides plenty of wisdom and food for thought, plus the joy of reading someone not trying to come across as perfect in any way. That is so refreshing, and a hallmark of the best spi...more
I am on an Anne Lamott jag right now after reading _Crooked Little Heart_. I loved this--in part b/c she's trying to remember to love George Bush, because, as she puts it, God doesn't necessarily like who we like. Jesus loves everyone, even when they're being a crazy, war-mongering nut case. (This last has gone a little too far from the paraphrase.) Anyway, it's a familiar feeling book. Sam appears, grown-up, teenagerish. I love that Anne is funny and finds the light and laughter even in friends...more
My fingers are itching for some good, progressive, thoughtful, brainy, and crazy Christian writings, and Anne Lamott totally scratches that itch. She spends a lot of time considering how Jesus wouldn't like how much she hates George W. Bush, and about forcing her son to go to church, and about her dreadlocks and about loving her jiggly body bits, and about feeding the poor. She alternatively refers to God as He, She, and It. As someone who was raised in the South by Republican, Baptist parents,...more
uber quick read- but entertaining with some nice nuggets of truth thrown in as well. very stream of consciousness style which is easy and enjoyable, and often skim-able.
I listened to this book on the long commute to my new job and it made the ride a lot more interesting. As a fellow progressive both in church and out, I found a lot of Lamott's ideas very refreshing. I also liked that she didn't place herself on a pedestal, that just as she thanks herself for giving a good sermon, she yells at her son irrationally. Or as she starts a sunday school, she finds that it would be a lot better if it weren't for the kids she had to deal with. I liked this so much, that...more
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Anne 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...more
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“It's good to do uncomfortable things. It's weight training for life.”
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“Hope is not about proving anything. It's about choosing to believe this one thing, that love is bigger than any grim, bleak shit anyone can throw at us.”
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Jan 08, 2011 09:05pm