This evening I had the privilege to listen to Anne Lamott. I love her non-fiction and may need to read some of her fiction. Honestly, I love her because she reminds me a little of myself... if only I was as funny.
She talked about how Traveling Mercies was light because she wrote it during the Clinton administration while Plan B was more dark written during the first four years of Bush.
She started by reading a chapter from her latest book Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith. Even though I have read the book her reading still resonated with me and humored me. I laughed as much tonight as perhaps I have laughed since it was 81ยบ. I took notes over things I had already read such as: "They were spiritual in the same way I was and am, devout, with a sometimes bad attitude, a black sense of humor, and tendencies toward gossip and character assassinations."
She did a great Q & A session in which she mentioned, "the Earth has not been a good match for me..." She finished by explaining how she has been lost and found because of novels." The session was started with an audience member asking if she only toured in the blue states. She responded, "I wish."
Someone asked her who she was reading. She went into a list of authors. Once again I felt she was like me as she had problems remembering some names and titles. I was not familiar with most of the names and could not write everyone down, but I started a list (not sure of spellings authors and titles): Mary Oliver (poet... I've heard this name a lot... need to read), Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge, Harry Angstrom, Dog of the South, Kathryn Davis (Thin Places). When asked which of her fiction books she would recommend to someone who had not read her fiction, she mentioned, Blue Side and All New People.
She was wonderful and spontaneous during the Q & A. She talked about how after she turned 40, it felt like she could breath. "I don't help people move anymore... helps with forgiveness." Obviously she is a Christian and very spiritual, but it is in a "real" sense. "God forgives before you do it because God is tragically huge and mysterious." BTW more or less direct quotes! "God is totally understanding... all the jerks in the world... God says, 'Why don't you take a walk you're a little crazy right now. We'll talk later.'" Lamott is also quite political mentioning she's been "In a good mood almost every day since midterm elections." Someone asked if her work was somewhat therapeutic and mentioned how she writes about how we come out of bad times. "How could things get worst than with Nixon and Vietnam, and they did."
I can't put her humor and thoughtfulness into words. She talked about she's always been a story teller because she remembers everything that happened and is able to tell it in a concise manner leaving out what's not important. If only I could sum up her talk as easily.
She talked about how Traveling Mercies was light because she wrote it during the Clinton administration while Plan B was more dark written during the first four years of Bush.
She started by reading a chapter from her latest book Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith. Even though I have read the book her reading still resonated with me and humored me. I laughed as much tonight as perhaps I have laughed since it was 81ยบ. I took notes over things I had already read such as: "They were spiritual in the same way I was and am, devout, with a sometimes bad attitude, a black sense of humor, and tendencies toward gossip and character assassinations."
She did a great Q & A session in which she mentioned, "the Earth has not been a good match for me..." She finished by explaining how she has been lost and found because of novels." The session was started with an audience member asking if she only toured in the blue states. She responded, "I wish."
Someone asked her who she was reading. She went into a list of authors. Once again I felt she was like me as she had problems remembering some names and titles. I was not familiar with most of the names and could not write everyone down, but I started a list (not sure of spellings authors and titles): Mary Oliver (poet... I've heard this name a lot... need to read), Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge, Harry Angstrom, Dog of the South, Kathryn Davis (Thin Places). When asked which of her fiction books she would recommend to someone who had not read her fiction, she mentioned, Blue Side and All New People.
She was wonderful and spontaneous during the Q & A. She talked about how after she turned 40, it felt like she could breath. "I don't help people move anymore... helps with forgiveness." Obviously she is a Christian and very spiritual, but it is in a "real" sense. "God forgives before you do it because God is tragically huge and mysterious." BTW more or less direct quotes! "God is totally understanding... all the jerks in the world... God says, 'Why don't you take a walk you're a little crazy right now. We'll talk later.'" Lamott is also quite political mentioning she's been "In a good mood almost every day since midterm elections." Someone asked if her work was somewhat therapeutic and mentioned how she writes about how we come out of bad times. "How could things get worst than with Nixon and Vietnam, and they did."
I can't put her humor and thoughtfulness into words. She talked about she's always been a story teller because she remembers everything that happened and is able to tell it in a concise manner leaving out what's not important. If only I could sum up her talk as easily.
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