Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott
Born	(1954-04-10) April 10, 1954 San Francisco, California, United States
Occupation	Novelist, non-fiction writer, essayist, memoirist
Nationality	American
Genre	Drama, humor, literary fiction

Anne Lamott (born April 10, 1954) is an American novelist and non-fiction writer.

She is also a progressive political activist, public speaker, and writing teacher. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, her nonfiction works are largely autobiographical. Marked by their self-deprecating humor and openness, Lamott's writings cover such subjects as alcoholism, single-motherhood, depression, and Christianity.

Life and career

Lamott was born in San Francisco, and is a graduate of Drew School. She was a student at Goycher College for two years where she wrote for the newspaper. Her father, Kenneth Lamott, was also a writer. Her first published novel Hard Laughter was written for him after his diagnosis of brain cancer. She has one son, Sam, who was born in August 1989 and a grandson, Jax, born in July 2009.

Lamott's life was documented in Freida Lee Mock's 1999 documentary Bird by Bird with Annie: A Film Portrait of Writer Anne Lamott. Because of the documentary and her following on Facebook and other online networks, she is often called the "People's Author".

Lamott has described why she writes:

I try to write the books I would love to come upon, that are honest, concerned with real lives, human hearts, spiritual transformation, families, secrets, wonder, craziness—and that can make me laugh. When I am reading a book like this, I feel rich and profoundly relieved to be in the presence of someone who will share the truth with me, and throw the lights on a little, and I try to write these kinds of books. Books, for me, are medicine.

Lamott is cited as a writer who captures well the style of narrative nonfiction called particularism, coined by Howard Freeman.

Bibliography

Novels

• Hard Laughter. Viking Press. 1980. ISBN 0-670-36140-2.
• Rosie. Viking Press. 1983. ISBN 0-670-60828-9.
• Joe Jones. North Point Press. 1985. ISBN 0-86547-209-2.
• All New People. North Point Press. 1989. ISBN 0-86547-394-3.
• Crooked Little Heart. Pantheon Books. 1997. ISBN 0-679-43521-2.
• Blue Shoe. Riverhead Books. 2002. ISBN 1-57322-226-7.
• Imperfect Birds. Riverhead Books. 2010. ISBN 1-59448-751-0.

Non-Fiction

• Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace. Riverhead Hardcover. 2014. ISBN 978-1594486296.
• Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers. Riverhead Hardcover. 2012. ISBN 978-1594631290.
• Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair. Riverhead Hardcover. 2013. ISBN 978-1594632587.
• Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Anchor. 1995. ISBN 978-0385480017.
• Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith. Anchor. 2000. ISBN 978-0385496094.
• Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year. Anchor. 2005. ISBN 978-1400079094.
• Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith. Riverhead Trade. 2006. ISBN 978-1594481574.
• Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son's First Son. Riverhead Trade. 2013. ISBN 978-1594486678.

Further reading

• Bochynski, Pegge. (2010) "Anne Lamott" in American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies, Supplement XX, Mary Antin to Phillis Wheatley. Ed. Jay Parini. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons p131-146.

External links

• Template:Worldcat id
• Anne Lamott on Facebook
• Salon.com: articles by Anne Lamott
• Profile – Steven Barclay Agency
• Write TV Public Television Interview (2004)
• Minnesota Public Radio Interview (2007)
• Interview for Writers on the Record (2007)
• Goodreads.com: Author profile: Anne Lamott