Book Review — Almost Everything: Notes on Hope

Almost Everything: Notes on Hope by Anne Lamott Years ago I was listening to a radio interview about a book called Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life which was very funny and insightful. So I checked the book out of the library and found the writing to be just as funny and insightful as the interview. The author was Anne Lamott and I’ve been reading her ever since. Her writing is extremely personal and sometimes I find myself just wanting to look away but I rarely do. I feel like I’ve followed her through her spiritual awakening, drug addiction, motherhood, difficult upbringing, friendships, deaths, and so much more. Rarely has writing felt so true. With Almost Everything: Notes on Hope Lamott carries on the tradition. Especially heart wrenching is her thought process for not bailing her son out of jail. And the tale of a friend who is sober for years and then is not. Mostly this is a book of hope. That you can’t solve anyone’s problems-just your own. No matter how hard you try. No matter how much you want to. And knowing that no matter how difficult life is, it will get better. In Lamott’s words, “I am stockpiling antibiotics for the apocalypse, even as I await the blooming of paperwhites on the windowsill in the kitchen.” Hope is what keeps me putting one foot in front of the other. And Lamott helps with that journey. Carol Lloyd is on the road again this week, but promises to send dispatches from the road.