Shaina's review
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
by Anne Lamott
Shaina's review
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
Shaina's review
rating:
bookshelves:
nonfiction
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 works for me and allows me to push forward to an end goal, because I know that if I'd read the book earlier in my life and tried to write her way, with short goals and "exercises" etc. I would have failed.
However, I did enjoy reading her stories and absorbing her descriptions, which I think are quite good. She also has a light, humorous, honest tone that made it a lot easier for me to read about the mystical power of being a writer, even when I didn't necessarily agree with her.
However, I did enjoy reading her stories and absorbing her descriptions, which I think are quite good. She also has a light, humorous, honest tone that made it a lot easier for me to read about the mystical power of being a writer, even when I didn't necessarily agree with her.
