Book: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
Genre: Writing craft
Publisher: Anchor Books
Publication date: 1995
Pages: 237

Source: Library (but I know I have a copy lying around here somewhere….)

Summary: Bird by Bird contains the wisdom that Anne Lamott imparts to the students in her writing classes. A mix of personal experience, student struggles, and expert advice from other writers, Bird by Bird encourages the writer with a mix of humor, tough love, and commiseration.

Thoughts: I read Bird by Bird a long time ago, probably when it was new. It’s a little disconcerting to be old enough that things I read or saw when they first came out are now labeled “classics.” I re-read it this month because the group of writers that I met while doing the April Platform Challenge at My Name is Not Bob discussed it on Goodreads.

I remembered the advice to write lousy first drafts, largely because she didn’t use the word lousy. So much for my grandmother’s contention that there’s never a good reason to use curse words — apparently it helps if you want your audience to remember what you wrote more than 15 years later. I forgot the other gem of advice in Bird by Bird, the one that is illustrated by the title: give yourself short assignments. I’ve been using that technique to great success the last few weeks.

This might be my favorite quote from Bird by Bird, on page 3:

Year after year my students are bursting with stories to tell, and they start writing projects with excitement and maybe even joy–finally their voices will be heard, and they are going to get to devote themselves to this one thing they’ve longed to do since childhood. But after a few days at the desk, telling the truth in an interesting way turns out to be about as easy and pleasurable as bathing a cat.

I’m sure glad to know that is normal.

Appeal: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is for writers at any stage of development.

Challenges: This book counts in the What’s In a Name challenge hosted at Beth Fish Reads as something you’d see in the sky: It’s a bird!

Reviews: Bird by Bird has been widely reviewed by book bloggers. Here are a few:

Dawn at She is Too Fond of Books read it during NaNoWriMo 2009. She goes into greater detail about the title, Bird by Bird: Book Review: *Bird by Bird* by Anne Lamott.

Jill at Fizzy Thoughts makes the case that Bird by Bird is just as much for readers as writers: Bird by Bird.

Erin at {th}ink wrote about Bird by Bird on the day she went to hear Anne Lamott speak. She quotes the most poignant passage in the book: {read: bestselling memoir} Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.

Have you read this book? What did you think?