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| Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life | 
 enlarge | Author: Anne Lamott
Publisher: Anchor Books
Category: Book
List Price: £13.95
Buy Used: £3.15
You Save: £10.80 (77%)
New (24) from £4.41
Avg. Customer Rating:  59 reviews
Sales Rank: 14217
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 239
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.8
ISBN: 0385480016
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.02
EAN: 9780385480017
ASIN: 0385480016
Publication Date: October 1995
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 54 more reviews...
 Addressing a couple of points... December 4, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Lamott is absolutely damn right that if all you care about is getting yourself published you will never get published! (She speaks about her classes with humour- making fun of herself rather than her students). What you should be focussing on is becoming a better writer. I found the advice in this book given with irony and a kind of self-deprecation- I didn't find it at all prescriptive. It was very funny and reassuring and I found myself identifying on many many points. She is talking to us about some of the real personal issues that arise from writing, a kind of neurosis that I myself certainly empathise with. If you are the kind of person who thinks they can sit down at a desk and within an hour have bashed out something that'll 'do' you wont get anything out of this book. As for her telling people her way is the way to do things- she is simply telling us all how she does things and doesn't pretend otherwise. It's very easy to write a 'how to' manual but this is a very different kind of book.
If you are thinking of buying this book and what an extremely insightful, funny and personal account of writing that will truly make you feel you aren't alone in the world- then buy this. If, on the other hand, you want something that'll tell you how to write a bestseller in four weeks and make you rich- don't bother. Just go back to writing your plot-driven melodramas.
really great and funny book December 4, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a lovely book written by someone who obviously 'gets' and adores writing.
I too am always at switch off point when God is mentioned but he is here in a 'and my Mum says' type way.....never forced into the readers face.
This woman is someone you'd meet in starbucks and you'd get talking to her and then inspired by her thoughts on writing.....lovely
 The unbearable truth January 23, 2007
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
This book is a very true portrait of what your inner life is like if you are a writer, how the writer's mind really works and what it is really like to try and live this way.
If you are a writer you will probably be inspired. If you are not you will probably be enlightened. And a little bit frightened.
 If only she'd stick to writing about writing... November 14, 2005
32 out of 35 found this review helpful
I bought this because I was writing a novel in a month with Nanowrimo, and so many people on the forums recommended it. People who write novels in a month ought to know an inspirational book when they see it, I thought. Wrong, wrong, wrong...
The subtitle, "Some Instructions on Writing and Life", ought to have been a warning. But I was overwhelmed by delight in the title itself: Lamott's young brother had, in a single evening, to complete a school project on birds which he should have been writing over the previous three months. "Just take it bird by bird, buddy," was the sensible advice offered by their father.
Lamott herself, however, takes a different line: "just do it my way, buddy". She (presumably; like so many people who write books about how to write novels, I've never even seen one of her novels in a book shop) writes character-driven novels. Therefore, so should we all: don't worry about plot, or settings or anything else, just let your characters do their thing. This is doubtless very good advice for those who also write character-driven fiction, but if you're like me, and begin with a plot and then wonder what sort of people would get into such a ridiculous situation, Ms Lamott is not going to help you much.
I could have dealt with the book and found some useful insights in it were it not for the second problem: "... and Life". Lamott believes in God. Very much. There is far too much stuff here about what God wants for each of us and what each of us wants from God, for this to work for me, or anyone else who doesn't not share or wish to share Lamott's faith. If I wanted a book about fluffy Christianity, I would not have bought a writing book.
Best in show. October 29, 2004
13 out of 20 found this review helpful
Whenever I want to write I get myself psyched by reading books about writing. This book was just brilliant - so inspiring. It has a no-nonsense style that provides a refreshing contrast to the more spiritual writing books available (and I'm looking at you here Julia Cameron, love you as I do). This book really makes you want to fire up the laptop and start telling a story.
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