Book Report #79 - Bird by Bird

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

This was refreshing in that it was not pretentious in the slightest. Quite the opposite. Lamott puts her whole writing career out there--the good, the bad and the ugly--so we can learn from it. I loved her quotation about critics. These are the people that show up once the battle is over and kick the wounded.

Bird by Bird made me laugh out loud. As I read I shared I stopped to share selections with whoever was in the room. Lamott does not stutter when she states that writing has to be done for the sake of a personal journey, NOT for the sake of publication. Because if you weren't enough before the party, you're certainly not going to be enough after. But what a joy it is to write! To try, to stretch your limits and to reach that incredible moment where it becomes bigger than you.

General consensus: If you're a writer, you must read it.