Bird by Bird
Anne Lamott
Anchor Press
Nonfiction, Writing
***+
Description
The author, a published novelist and writing instructor, offers tips on how to write, when to write, what to write, and - most importantly - why to write, using anecdotes and stories from her own life to augment lessons.
Review
This should have been a top-mark book, but it fell short. Part of its charm is Lamott's personal touch. That's also part of the problem. While she does indeed have some valuable advice and offers insightful truths about the writer's mind, her personal stories and tangents come to occupy too much page space. These anecdotes seemed to have less and less to do with writing as the book progressed, and I started feeling like I was trapped in a dinner-party conversation with someone who won't stop talking about themselves. Maybe it's because she succeeds in portraying herself so well that I clipped this a point. While I can't argue with much of her advice, I don't think I'd like her very much in person. Since she insisted on making herself such a central focus of the book, the fact that I wasn't altogether keen on her personality affects my perception of it.