Anne Lamott won a host of fans with Operating Instructions, her hysterical memoir about the first year of her son's life. Then came the frank, funny, and fiercely honest Traveling Mercies, in which she described her own love affair with Jesus (a love that completely surprised her more than anybody). Sprinkled throughout both are her fiercely leftist, now fiercely anti-Bush politics. Her latest volume of nonfiction, Plan B (available for the first time in paperback), has garnered mixed reviews.
She's just as funny as ever, but some readers have complained that she spends too much time venting her political spleen. But even folks who don't share Lamott's sentiments about the current presidential administration will find both humor and insight in Plan B.
Lamott offers wisdom about parenting. (Her son is now a teen, and Lamott is in her early 50s—she says she's finally figured out why people are supposed to have kids young: "so that by the time your child is in his teens, one of you is stable some of the time, and you the mother are not racked with back pain and Alzheimer's.") There's wisdom about prayer. ("'Help' is a prayer that is always answered.") She offers wisdom about getting through the narrow places in life, about hope, about resting in God's mystery, and about trusting God's justice. You don't have to agree with Lamott's politics to agree with her about that.
While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
As my doubts about his teachings grew, so did a secret fascination with Jesus.
The Grammy-winning artist was found dead at her home in Nashville at age 47.
