Operating Instructions - by Anne Lamott (Paperback)

About the Book

"It's not like she's the only woman to ever have a baby. At thirty-five. On her own. But Anne Lamott makes it all fresh in her now-classic account of how she and her son and numerous friends and neighbors and some strangers survived and thrived in that all important first year. From finding out that her baby is a boy (and getting used to the idea) to finding out that her best friend and greatest supporter Pam will die of cancer (and not getting used to that idea), ... Lamott narrates the great and small events that make up a woman's life"--Amazon.com.

Book Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - The acclaimed author of Bird by Bird brings her brilliant combination of humor and warmth to a "smart, funny, and comforting" chronicle of single motherhood (Los Angeles Times Book Review).

It's not like she's the only woman to ever have a baby. At thirty-five. On her own. But Anne Lamott makes it all fresh in her now-classic account of how she and her son and numerous friends and neighbors and some strangers survived and thrived in that all important first year. From finding out that her baby is a boy (and getting used to the idea) to finding out that her best friend and greatest supporter Pam will die of cancer (and not getting used to that idea), with a generous amount of wit and faith (but very little piousness), Lamott narrates the great and small events that make up a woman's life.

"Lamott is a wonderfully lithe writer .... Anyone who has ever had a hard time facing a perfectly ordinary day will identify." --Chicago Tribune

Review Quotes

"An enormous triumph. . . . Charming. . . . Powerful. . . . Funny." --San Francisco Chronicle

"A funny, self-mocking, vivid account." --The Washington Post

"Smart, funny, and comforting. . . . Lamott has a conversational style that perfectly conveys her friendly, self-deprecating humor." --Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Lamott is a wonderfully lithe writer. . . . Anyone who has ever had a hard time facing a perfectly ordinary day will identify." --Chicago Tribune

"First class all the way. . . . Lamott, along with her novelist's eye and often poetic prose, has a terrifically black sense of humor. . . . Deeply honest." --The Detroit News

"Wonderfully candid. . . . Even non-parents will enjoy this glowing work." --Publishers Weekly

"Lamott here shares her humor, faith, friendships, and irreverence. . . . Operating Instructions is enhanced by Lamott's colorful and expressive language, her philosophical reflections, and her descriptions of many eccentric friends." --Library Journal

"One need not be a new parent to appreciate Lamott's glib and gritty good humor in the face of annihilating weariness. She'll nourish fans with her entries, and give birth to new ones as well." --Kirkus Reviews

"Painfully honest, laced with humor and poetry and moments of profound insight. It captures the intense fluctuations of feeling, the rapid alternation of exhilaration and fury, love and despair, that characterizes new parenthood." --San Francisco Examiner

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.