Anne Lamott Explained

Anne Lamott
Birth Date:	10 April 1954
Birth Place:	San Francisco, California, U.S.
Alma Mater:	Drew School Goucher College
Genre:	Drama, humor, literary fiction, Reviews

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

She is also a progressive political activist, public speaker, and writing teacher. Lamott is based in Marin County, California. Her nonfiction works are largely autobiographical.^[1] Lamott's writings, marked by their self-deprecating humor and openness, cover such subjects as alcoholism, single-motherhood, depression, and Christianity.^[2]

Early life and education

Lamott was born in San Francisco, and is a graduate of Drew School. She was a student at Goucher College for two years where she wrote for the newspaper.^[3] 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.^{[4] [5]}

Career

Lamott's life was documented in Freida Lee Mock's 1999 documentary Bird by Bird with Annie: A Film Portrait of Writer Anne Lamott.^[6] Because of the documentary and her following on Facebook and other online networks, she is often called the "People's Author".^[7]

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.^[8]

Lamott was featured on the second episode of the first season of the show The Midnight Gospel.

Awards and honors

Lamott was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1985.^[9] She was inducted into the California Hall of Fame in 2010.^[10]

Personal life

On April 13, 2019, Lamott married Neal Allen, 63, a former vice president for marketing at the McKesson Corporation in San Francisco. The couple met in August 2016. He is a twice-divorced father of four, who left his job at McKesson to devote himself to writing.^[11]

Bibliography

Novels

• Book: Hard Laughter . Viking Press . 1980 . 0-670-36140-2 .
• Book: Rosie . Viking Press . 1983 . 0-670-60828-9 .
• Book: Joe Jones . North Point Press . 1985 . 0-86547-209-2 .
• Book: All New People . registration . North Point Press . 1989 . 0-86547-394-3 .
• Book: Crooked Little Heart . Pantheon Books . 1997 . 0-679-43521-2 .
• Book: Blue Shoe . Riverhead Books . 2002 . 1-57322-226-7 .
• Book: Imperfect Birds . Riverhead Books . 2010 . 978-1-59448-751-4 .

Nonfiction

• Book: Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year . Pantheon Books . 1993 . 978-0-679-42091-0 .
• Book: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life . Pantheon Books . 1994 . 978-0-679-43520-4 .
• Book: Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith . Pantheon Books . 1999 . 978-0-679-44240-0 .
• Book: Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith . Riverhead Books . 2005 . 978-1-57322-299-0 .
• Book: Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith . registration . Riverhead Books . 2007 . 978-1-59448-942-6.
• Book: Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son's First Son . Riverhead Books . 2012 . 978-1-59448-841-2. (with Sam Lamott)
• Book: Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers . Riverhead Books . 2012 . 978-1-59463-129-0 .
• Book: Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair . Riverhead Books . 2013 . 978-1-59463-258-7.
• Book: Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace . registration . Riverhead Books . 2014 . 978-1-59448-629-6.
• Book: Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy . Riverhead Books . 2017 . 9780735213586.
• Book: Almost Everything: Notes on Hope . Riverhead Books . 2018 . 978-0525537441.
• Book: Dusk, Night, Dawn . Riverhead Books . 2021 . 978-0-593-18969-6.
• Book: Somehow: Thoughts on Love . Riverhead Books . 2024 . 978-0-593-71441-6.

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.
• Bouris, Karen . Jan–Feb 2013 . Anne Lamott : life as a black-belt codependent . Interview . Spirituality & Health . 15 . 6 . 48–53 . April 30, 2016 . April 20, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160420082723/http://spiritualityhealth.com/articles/anne-lamott-life-black-belt-codependent . dead .
• Vandenburgh, Jane. (2010) Architecture of the Novel: A Writer's Handbook. Anne Lamott (Foreword). Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint

External links

• • 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
• TED.com: "12 truths I learned from life and writing", a talk by Anne Lamott (2017)

Notes and References

1. News: Author Anne Lamott selling Marin home for $1.199 million. July 15, 2017. The Mercury News. September 27, 2018. en-US.
2. My son, the stranger . Lamott . Anne . Salon . May 22, 2006 . March 8, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080513034405/http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/05/22/lamott_fight_son/. May 13, 2008. live.
3. Web site: Flanagan. Mark. Anne Lamott. About Entertainment. November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141104174409/http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/authorprofiles/p/Anne-Lamott-biography.htm. dead.
4. News: Anne Lamott's directions for grandparents: 'Some Assembly Required'. Hetter. Katia. April 6, 2012. CNN. April 6, 2012.
5. Web site: Author Anne Lamott selling Marin home for $1.199 million. Brennan, Keri. MercuryNews.com. July 15, 2017 . Bay Area News Group. July 15, 2017.
6. Freida Lee Mock (Director) . August 1, 1999 . Bird by Bird with Annie . Documentary . Vanguard International Cinema.
7. News: Interview with Anne Lamott. Smiley. Tavis. April 14, 2010. PBS. April 14, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100416170741/http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/201004/20100414.html. April 16, 2010 . live.
8. Web site: Quote of the Day . Religion Blog . Dallas Morning News . 2008-02-10 .
9. Web site: Anne Lamott - Fellow - 1985 - Fiction . John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation . April 22, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130603224349/http://www.gf.org/fellows/8354-anne-lamott . June 3, 2013 .
10. Web site: Tagg. Mariel. 2010 CA Hall of Fame, red carpet induction ceremony. Sacramento Press. November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141104193842/http://sacramentopress.com/2010/12/08/2010-ca-hall-of-fame-red-carpet-induction-ceremony/. dead.
11. News: The Writer Anne Lamott Gets to the Happily-Ever-After Part. Lois Smith. Brady. The New York Times . April 26, 2019. January 2, 2020. NYTimes.com.