Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott

[rachelmanija]

"I began to stalk around his living room, like a trial lawyer making her case to the jury, explaining various aspects of the book, some of which, in my desire not to appear too obvious, I had forgotten to put down at all."

This and Strunk and White's The Elements of Style are the only two books on writing I've ever read which are both useful and a pleasure to read. As a bonus, both are funny. There were a great many parts of Lamott's book which had me laughing out loud, but most of them were the culmination of several paragraphs or pages of build-up, and so I can't excerpt them here. Take my word for it.

In addition to a great deal of solid, non-dogmatic, and practical advice on writing and the writing life, Bird by Bird is a hilarious dissection of the neuroses, panic states, jealousy, paranoia, insanity, depression, addiction, psychotic rage, insomnia, vengefulness, and rare but delightful moments of schadenfreude which make up the life of the writer. I suspect that Lamott is probably more neurotic in some ways than I am, but I have experienced virtually every moment of insanity and pettiness which she describes, except for the bit where, after her editor hated her book after she was positive she'd finally gotten the umpteenth rewrite right, she goes off and snorts coke like an anteater.

I highly recommend this book to all the writers on my list, but I most frequently thought of copperwise as I read it. Lamott's advice on how to write a memoir without getting sued for libel is to change the identifying details of any characters who are portrayed in unflattering terms, and, if they're male and you want to be extra-sure they won't publicly claim the altered evil character is based on them, to say they have a teeny-weeny penis.

I also like her Operating Instructions, the least sappy book on motherhood I've ever read.

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

She didn't say, but my understanding is that as long as you change some details and otherwise tell the truth, you are unlikely to get in trouble. To win a lawsuit against you, EF would probably have to prove both that you lied about him and that your lies caused him financial (not just emotional) damage. It's a difficult standard to meet.

[copperwise.livejournal.com]

I rather count on the fact that the last thing E.F. wants to do is go to court and have me give a detailed description of every little thing that he did, under oath.

I also rather count on the fact that he and his family don't read, and so won't ever know that I wrote it, much less sit down to read it.

[hokelore.livejournal.com]

Besides, what are the odds that he'll stand up in court, and state: "Yes your honor, I really did dress up in frilly lingerie and stuff my johnson up my hinder!" Hmmm?