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Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
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Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life Paperback - 1995 - 1st Edition

by Anne Lamott

The author of five books, including the novels Hard Laughter, Rosie and Joe Jones, offers an "inspiring book about writing as a way of finding truth" (San Francisco Chronicle). "A reveille to get off our duffs and start writing now, while we still can".--Seattle Times.


Summary

Anne Lamott gives her perspective on the art and work of writing. The title comes from a family story where her brother had to complete a report on birds. He put it off until the last minute and awas overwhelmed. Her father counselled him saying they would take it, "Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird."

From the publisher

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - An essential volume for generations of writers young and old. The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of this modern classic will continue to spark creative minds for years to come. Anne Lamott is "a warm, generous, and hilarious guide through the writer's world and its treacherous swamps" (Los Angeles Times).

"Superb writing advice.... Hilarious, helpful, and provocative." --The New York Times Book Review

For a quarter century, more than a million readers--scribes and scribblers of all ages and abilities--have been inspired by Anne Lamott's hilarious, big-hearted, homespun advice. Advice that begins with the simple words of wisdom passed down from Anne's father--also a writer--in the iconic passage that gives the book its title: "Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'"

From the jacket flap

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'"

Details

  • Title Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
  • Author Anne Lamott
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition number 1st
  • Edition 1
  • Pages 256
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Anchor Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
  • Date 1995-09-01
  • Features Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780385480017 / 0385480016
  • Weight 0.48 lbs (0.22 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.9 in (19.56 x 12.95 x 2.29 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Authorship
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 95010225
  • Dewey Decimal Code 808.02

Media reviews

"Superb writing advice... hilarious, helpful and  provocative." -- New York Times Book  Review.

"A warm, generous and  hilarious guide through the writer's world and its  treacherous swamps." -- Los Angeles  Times.

"A gift to all of  us mortals who write or ever wanted to write...  sidesplittingly funny, patiently wise and alternately  cranky and kind -- a reveille to get off our duffs  and start writing now, while we  still can." -- Seattle  Times.

Citations

  • Library Journal, 02/01/2016, Page 38
  • New York Times, 11/19/1995, Page 44

About the author

ANNE LAMOTT is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Almost Everything; Hallelujah Anyway; Help, Thanks, Wow; Small Victories; Stitches; Some Assembly Required; Grace (Eventually); Plan B; Traveling Mercies; and Operating Instructions. She is also the author of seven novels, including Imperfect Birds and Rosie. A past recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and an inductee to the California Hall of Fame, she lives in Northern California.
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by Anne Lamott

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by Anne Lamott

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by Anne Lamott

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