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oneskyolder's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
3.5
anne lamott has such a distinctive voice and perspective. i keep returning to her works because i haven't seen anyone else be able to intertwine tenderness, courage, pain, and the unsavory parts of being human together in the same humorous way that she does.
cconifer86's review
5.0
First Anne Lamott book in a long while. This book was wonderful. Reading it felt as though I was hanging out with an old friend. ❤️
fancylibrarian's review
5.0
I sit in church feeling near ecstasy from the power of God’s love, then a few hours later find myself being petty and human again. This is the experience of reading Anne Lamott, the agony and the ecstasy that is life on earth.
annebennett1957's review
3.0
I wanted to like this book more than I did. Maybe it is just me right now, though, since I am attempting to cling to the tiniest string of hope right now before the election and all the crap associated with the pandemic.
lneff514's review
4.0
I'm a big fan of Anne's writing. This book had moments of tenderness, wisdom, humor... this wasn't my favorite book of hers, but I did enjoy it.
kricketa's review
5.0
Anne Lamott's books tend to wander into my line of vision at exactly the right time.
findyourgoldenhour's review
3.0
I’ve been a fan of St. Anne forever, so I was looking forward to reading this one. Her writing can be a balm to the soul.
The chapter on our current political reality really spoke to me; I needed to read about someone else struggling with not letting the other side win, and by that I mean not taking the bait and seeing them as the “other side” and therefore seeing them as other. It’s really, really hard these days.
”Empathy begins when we realize how much alike we all are. My focus on hate made me notice I’m too much like certain politicians. The main politician I’m thinking of and I are always right. I, too, can be a blowhard, a hoarder, needing constant approval and acknowledgment, needing to feel powerful...I don’t think he meant to grow up to be a racist who debased women. But he was raised afraid and came to believe that all he needed was a perfect woman, a lot of money, and maybe a few more atomic weapons. He must be the loneliest, emptiest man on earth.
This country has felt more stunned and doomed than at any time since the assassinations of the 1960s and the Vietnam War, and while a sense of foreboding may be appropriate, the hate is not. At some point, the hate becomes an elective. I was becoming insane, letting politicians get me whipped up into visions of revenge, perp walks, jail. And this was satisfying for a time. But it didn’t work as a drug, neither calming nor animating me. There is no beauty or safety in hatred. As a long-term strategy, based on craziness, it’s doomed.
...I don’t want my life’s ending to be that I was toxic and self-righteous, and I don’t know if my last day here will be next Thursday or in twenty years. Whenever that day comes, I want to be living, insofar as possible, in the Wendell Berry words ‘Be joyful though you have considered all the facts,’ and I want to have had dessert.”
I’m giving this three stars because the book itself felt disjointed and rambling. And I read parts of it already, almost word-for-word, on her Facebook feed. But it’s a quick read and overall I felt like it was worth my time.
The chapter on our current political reality really spoke to me; I needed to read about someone else struggling with not letting the other side win, and by that I mean not taking the bait and seeing them as the “other side” and therefore seeing them as other. It’s really, really hard these days.
”Empathy begins when we realize how much alike we all are. My focus on hate made me notice I’m too much like certain politicians. The main politician I’m thinking of and I are always right. I, too, can be a blowhard, a hoarder, needing constant approval and acknowledgment, needing to feel powerful...I don’t think he meant to grow up to be a racist who debased women. But he was raised afraid and came to believe that all he needed was a perfect woman, a lot of money, and maybe a few more atomic weapons. He must be the loneliest, emptiest man on earth.
This country has felt more stunned and doomed than at any time since the assassinations of the 1960s and the Vietnam War, and while a sense of foreboding may be appropriate, the hate is not. At some point, the hate becomes an elective. I was becoming insane, letting politicians get me whipped up into visions of revenge, perp walks, jail. And this was satisfying for a time. But it didn’t work as a drug, neither calming nor animating me. There is no beauty or safety in hatred. As a long-term strategy, based on craziness, it’s doomed.
...I don’t want my life’s ending to be that I was toxic and self-righteous, and I don’t know if my last day here will be next Thursday or in twenty years. Whenever that day comes, I want to be living, insofar as possible, in the Wendell Berry words ‘Be joyful though you have considered all the facts,’ and I want to have had dessert.”
I’m giving this three stars because the book itself felt disjointed and rambling. And I read parts of it already, almost word-for-word, on her Facebook feed. But it’s a quick read and overall I felt like it was worth my time.
l3nduhhh's review
Some quotes I want to remember:
We can change. People say we can’t, but we do when the stakes or the pain is high enough. And when we do, life can change. It offers more of itself when we agree to give up our busyness.
Gratitude is seeing how someone changed your heart and quality of life, helped you become the good parts of the person you are.
To have a few amazing friends on this side of eternity, this sometimes grotesque amusement park, is the greatest joy.
It’s ridiculous how hard life is. Denial and avoidance are unsuccessful strategies, but truth and awareness mend.
What helps is that we are not all crazy and hopeless on the same day.
Why did this happen? Why her? Well, because as my friend Karen says, this happens to people, and she is a human.
“Why?” is rarely a useful question in the hope business.
We can change. People say we can’t, but we do when the stakes or the pain is high enough. And when we do, life can change. It offers more of itself when we agree to give up our busyness.
Gratitude is seeing how someone changed your heart and quality of life, helped you become the good parts of the person you are.
To have a few amazing friends on this side of eternity, this sometimes grotesque amusement park, is the greatest joy.
It’s ridiculous how hard life is. Denial and avoidance are unsuccessful strategies, but truth and awareness mend.
What helps is that we are not all crazy and hopeless on the same day.
Why did this happen? Why her? Well, because as my friend Karen says, this happens to people, and she is a human.
“Why?” is rarely a useful question in the hope business.