t0ast_and_t3a 's review for:

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

5.0

challenging funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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I went to school for writing, so it’s safe to say I’ve read stacks of books professors have assigned in which they claimed “would resonate with the writer in me.” I always felt like there were just the same book written by a different hand. This is still true, and it in no way discredits those books, since in some way, they’ve brought me here. This is yet another book where yet another writer talks about their relationship with writing, but I have never—I repeat NEVER—felt so seen than I have with this book. I feel as if Lamott drilled into my skull and took a stroll through my brain and then wrote this for me to find later. 

I laughed—cackled—so much during reading this that my cheeks are sore, because how in the world can someone understand my struggle with writing?? What do you mean I’m not alone in my obsessive-compulsive thoughts and anxiety and irrationality spirals? It’s almost as sobering to know I’m not alone as it is to read one of these “same books written by a different hand” and realize that maybe those books I was assigned in school was someone else’s Bird By Bird. 

Not only have I highlighted a gargantuan amount of the sentences in this book, but I’ve reread certain chapters that really resonate with my current relationship with my writing today and it’s helped me take a much needed deep breath. 

So, if you see this Lamott, thanks for the therapy.