Bird by Bird Bird by Bird

Bird by Bird

Some Instructions on Writing and Life

    • 4.5 • 236 Ratings
    • $12.99

Publisher Description

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.’”

GENRE
Professional & Technical
RELEASED
1994
September 6
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
272
Pages
PUBLISHER
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
SELLER
Penguin Random House LLC
SIZE
6.9
MB

Customer Reviews

sharpasabubble ,

THANKS , I NEEDED that!

Yes, I take myself too seriously. Nearly daily I am severely wounded by humiliations, oversights and requests so demeaning my work days feel like a slow, numbing painful death by a thousand cuts.

For the last few days, I have guiltily snuck my iPad out during my lunch hour and buried my face into the world of Anne Lamott.

It has been a tonic — a terrific, uplifting, reviving experience. She is so transparent and THERE, these lunch meetings feel as if I've been dining with a dear friend.

I definitely feel better... and, oh yeah - I"m writing again too. Not out of vengeance (quite yet) but out of a sense of survival. (I feel a sly smile twisting up the corners of my mouth - this tells me the vengeance is coming...)

Feeling insecure? Read this. Feeling stuck? Read this. Not feeling anything.... Definitely read this. It may even remind you how to chuckle. (It may even cause you to blast iced tea out your nose and feel triumphant about it.) I am giving away copies like a zealot.

PeaceOnEarthAndGoodwill ,

Excellent. I love this book!

My dear Aunt suggested this book to me over ten years ago when I was approaching writing a book. Sad to say, I put off reading it, and my Auntie is now ill and unable to discuss the book with me. I will always look upon this book as a gift of spirit as well as one that gives insight into the writing craft as well as the general creative process that writers and all artistic people experience. Kudos to Anne Lamott. This book is a treasure.

Nova79 ,

Honest and Real

Appreciated how honest, direct, real and supportive the author is. Eye opening perspective on how to approach writing that makes it enjoyable and helps remove the burden of crazy expectations.

Help, Thanks, Wow Help, Thanks, Wow
2012
Small Victories Small Victories
2014
Stitches Stitches
2013
Traveling Mercies Traveling Mercies
1999
Imperfect Birds Imperfect Birds
2010
Hallelujah Anyway Hallelujah Anyway
2017
On Writing On Writing
2000
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain A Swim in a Pond in the Rain
2021
On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition
2012
Dreyer's English Dreyer's English
2019
Writing to Learn Writing to Learn
2013
The Art of Memoir The Art of Memoir
2015