Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
by Anne Lamott
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
writers, journalists, creative people
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Read in April, 2008
A more accurate rating for this book is probably 3.5 stars--somewhere between "liking" and "really liking." This slim, easy-to-read volume offers inspiration and encouragement for aspiring writers, delivered in a soothing, humorous, sometimes touchy-feely voice. I found her advice to be helpful, but I grew tired of her joking attempts at reassuring novice writers that their feelings of inadequacy were normal. The book would have been many pages shorter had she cut out the ...more
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Read in February, 2008
I can see why this is a popular book. Lamott is funny, self-deprecating, and encouraging even in the face of cold, hard realities. She means what she says in the title, too. It really does set out to be instructions on writing and life. There are undoubtedly better books covering particulars of the craft, but this may be one of the best at construing a writer’s perspective. I liked her advice about making incremental progress (the meaning of “bird by bird”), about getting something/an...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
writers, artists, meditators
The books I have read about the art and discipline of writing remind me of what poet Robert Bly refers to in Iron John as “bucketing out” the water from the swamp in the forest. I take this to be a metaphor about the strange, icky junk one finds when inventorying one’s consciousness through meditation. In order to get to the truth within us—the stuff worth writing about—we have to tend to the tedious and disagreeable chore of bucketing out the metaphorical swamp water that cloud...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
Writers and serious readers
I'm getting to the point where I've read a handful of books on the writing life by authors and I found this one to be particularly resonant at this point in my writing career. I actually found myself underlining things that Anne Lamott wrote and thinking, "I need to reread this so that I can absorb its message better."
Perhaps the one thing that I'd like to pass along from her book that I wholeheartedly believe is her assertion that novels should have hope in them. I've spent sever...more
Perhaps the one thing that I'd like to pass along from her book that I wholeheartedly believe is her assertion that novels should have hope in them. I've spent sever...more
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Read in October, 2002
I've discovered that non-fiction (particularly books on writing, since that's the only non-fiction I read) is a wonderful way to cleanse the palette between fiction books. At least, that's the way this book start for me. What I found was a humorous, insightful examination of the writing process that was more inspirational than instructional. Only a few chapters in, I had to stop reading so I could apply teachings into writing 7 or 8 pages of my own. This woman is marvelous, from her humorous, ye...more
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As a high school English teacher, I feel like I spend half of my life telling kids to use quotations and examples in their writing. Prove it, I say. Show, don't tell. Without books like Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird I think I might forget how writing is supposed to feel.
Bird is a book that can easily be read in a few day, maybe a few hours if you have time to kill. It's not particularly revelatory about craft; in fact, I think other reviewers are correct in suggesting that there a...more
Bird is a book that can easily be read in a few day, maybe a few hours if you have time to kill. It's not particularly revelatory about craft; in fact, I think other reviewers are correct in suggesting that there a...more
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Bird by Bird is very much geared towards a particular type of writing—the confessional, American family drama, or tragi-comedy. Lamont emphasizes writing from the heart and true experience. But in 237 pages there is not a single mention of form or style. When Lamont does discuss the nuts of bolts of writing (in sections on Plot, Characters and Dialogue), she assumes a very specific sort of project and the comments are too general to be of much help or interest.
What is priceless, ar...more
What is priceless, ar...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Sarahdorothy by:
a scholarrecommends it for: budding or accomplished writers
I am not a creative writer. Yet, in the fall I will find myself in front of eager undergraduates enrolled in what they believe to be a creative writing course. I am slowly but painfully coming to grips with this situation. I was encouraged to assign a book about writing to these students, and Bird by Bird was recommended to me. As I have no experience and no real knowledge of creative writing, I was terrified to read Bird by Bird . I was surprised (and relieved) to discover ...more
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"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. ...more
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Read in October, 2006
Anne Lamott is a gifted writer. Say what you will about her theology or her self-absorption--hey, she readily admits it with charming self-deprecation--but she is a treasure hidden in the rock, one who operates with a style and a pained grace all her own. One never reads Anne Lamott thinking that he's read the stuff before or elsewhere.
Here she takes on the subject of writing itself. Within these pages, the author paints a tragicomic portrait of Everywriter with classic chapters ("Shitt...more
Here she takes on the subject of writing itself. Within these pages, the author paints a tragicomic portrait of Everywriter with classic chapters ("Shitt...more
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Read in January, 2000
recommends it for:
Amy's sister, Cricket
I think I read this in about 2000. I had just decided to get back into writing. Driving home early on a Friday, I heard Terry Gross interviewing Ann Lamott about this book. What she said made sense to me. I drove to Barnes and Noble and bought it.
This was the first book I ever read that gave me permission to write shitty (her word) first drafts. What a relief. You mean it doesn't have to be perfect the first time through? Or the second? Or even the third?
Another notion I got fr...more
This was the first book I ever read that gave me permission to write shitty (her word) first drafts. What a relief. You mean it doesn't have to be perfect the first time through? Or the second? Or even the third?
Another notion I got fr...more
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Read in July, 2007
This book is basically what the title describes--instructions on how to write (fiction, mainly, though personal narrative writing as well) interspersed with anecdotes from Lamott's life. I got the book mainly for the latter, though I enjoyed reading the former (it's always interesting to see how other people do it), but I found myself, at the end of the book, thinking, "Wow, thank god I already know how to write." Which is to say, thank god I've already found a way to write that work...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
Writers and other crazy people
After so many books about how fun and easy writing can be, it's great to have a book that shows how painful and difficult it really is. Lamott puts a premium on discipline, the discipline of writing every day at a set time and trying hard to get the first draft out, no matter how bad it may be. This message may not be news to most, but along with the added info that neurosis and writing go hand in hand, Lamott is not here to inform, she's here to encourage. She's a real teacher, someone who isn'...more
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Read in May, 2008
I've been resisting reading this for a long time. I'm wiser sometimes than I give myself credit for.
1) In fairness to Lamott, she's likely been done a disservice by every middle-school writing teacher and blowsy writing-awards-ceremony emcee from sea to shining sea using the cutesy "bird by bird, son" story -- using it like a cheap prostitute, I may add -- and thereby putting the whole book under suspicion.
2) Is it normal for a writer to have so goddamn many friends? How does...more
1) In fairness to Lamott, she's likely been done a disservice by every middle-school writing teacher and blowsy writing-awards-ceremony emcee from sea to shining sea using the cutesy "bird by bird, son" story -- using it like a cheap prostitute, I may add -- and thereby putting the whole book under suspicion.
2) Is it normal for a writer to have so goddamn many friends? How does...more
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for books of writing tips, this has been the best i've read. david lodge has also written a very good one. what's good about "bird by bird" is that it reads like a book and not an instruction manual. you can simply read it for pleasure. she talks about her second book "rosie" being a pain in the ass to write and how she wound up writing four drafts of it after blowing her grandmother's money and drininking and snorting cocaine. this intrigued me. so i read rosie. cute story b...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone who likes to write
the book gets way better after a few chapters. in the beginning i found her metaphors and similes really dumb; like she was trying way too hard to be funny. but eh, i like her now...maybe i started reading the book with a bad attitude and she warmed me up. she is pretty cool and i like her advice, i still have about 50 pages to go.
favorite part: KFKD radio. great!
**Finished the book last night and it was great. The author really tries to beat it into you that you have to write becaus...more
favorite part: KFKD radio. great!
**Finished the book last night and it was great. The author really tries to beat it into you that you have to write becaus...more
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Read in January, 1995
I have so many underlinings and corners turned down that it's hard to know what I like best. Possibly page 227 where Anne advises writers about libel: "...If you disguise this person carefully so that he cannot be recognized by the physical or professional facts of his life, you can use him in your work. And the best advice I can give you is to give him a teenie little p.... so he will be less likely to come forth."
I liked that part so much (and have used the advice in my own wr...more
I liked that part so much (and have used the advice in my own wr...more
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Read in June, 2007
This book offered an interesting perspective on life and writing fiction. She was preaching to the converted, however; didn't really open my eyes to anything I wouldn't expect/already know. I happen to think jealousy is the ugliest human emotion. Kudos to her for shamelessly admitting to her shortcomings, but I honestly wanted to close the book during this chapter. I'm glad I toughed it out though because it was decent well-laid out writing advice, nonetheless. Can't hurt for beginners.
Lamo...more
Lamo...more
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I don't read writing books for their educational value. I've been writing for a long time - and while I will always be appalling careless about where I put a comma, I feel pretty comfortable in my writing shoes. But I love to have writing books around to dip into - the good ones like this one, like Bradbury's and Stephen King's with their writing advice punctuating their autobiographies, like Writing Down the Bones where Natalie Goldberg is like a good pal from a writing class, and my favorite...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.12 (4240 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.13 (4182 ratings) number of reviews: 584popular shelves
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