Traveling Mercies

Rating:
Summary: I'm enjoying this book immensely.
Review: Traveling Mercies is uplifting. Anne Lamott's reflections are honest, funny, sad and uplifting all at the same time.

Rating:
Summary: The "everyman" story for the end of the first millenium
Review: Finally, a connection to others through stories which speak of pain and joy and humanhood. When I finished reading , I mailed this book to my best friend.because now there is a document that captures what I could never articulate.

Rating:
Summary: Never written a review or letter to author before....
Review: Have been an avid reader for 30 years, but never before felt compelled to write a review or letter to an author before...This book, perhaps more than any of the thousands of others I have read, struck a chord in my soul. On the recommendation of a friend I had read "Operating Instructions" about three years ago. While thumbing through a Book of the Month Club type catalog I ran across the photo of a white woman in dreadlocks and was struck with admiration for the woman who would present such a public image. I was pleasantly surprised to read that her name was Anne LaMott. I ordered the book "Traveling Mercies" and was delighted and completely engrossed by it. Ms. LaMott puts words to emotion I cannot personally express when she speaks of her "Christian-ish" life-orientation, her likening of her personal experience of coming to the Lord as to that of a stray cat trying to enter her life, and the pain and sublime joy of rearing her Sam. Like Annie,(oddly enough the name my own mother, a story in and of itself, was called as a girl) I came to a personal relationship with God through voyeurism into a congregation of Black believers, and like her, was taught life lessons I didn't know I needed through my interaction in fellowship with them. I thank God for the talent with words he has bestowed upon Anne, ask his blessings upon her and her loved ones, and recommend this book to anyone who finds him/herself surprised at the move of the Holy Spirit in his/her life.

Rating:
Summary: It was a wonderful read -- just wonderful!
Review: When I couldn't put the book down, I knew she had me. Ideas and stories are still bubbling up in my head. Mother Teresa she's not, but she has the same message in an almost Jack Kerouac style. Her book is a cross between The Confessions of St. Augustine and Catcher in the Rye. Lamott meditates on life's experiences and makes good, solid, even holy connections with these experiences. She prays and teaches her son to pray and she has found a good, caring community of pray-ers who need help and help others in return. St. Thomas Aquinas and his Summa Theologica just can't cut it with today's crowd. Lamott can and will. I hope she keeps on writing. She writes well; she thinks well; she's down to earth and funny, irreverent even, and is finding truths in a way that is changing people's lives...bird by bird. It was a wonderful read...just wonderful!

Rating:
Summary: Thank you for "writing what you know."
Review: After reading Operating Instructions, I was hooked. Not many people are as honest as Anne, especially when it is painful or embarrassing. I was so excited to see this new book, I checked it out at the library as soon as it hit the shelf. I got to page 46 and had to buy it for myself. I have shared it with so many people. I've made people listen to me read to them on the phone, sent it to others with passages marked for them to read, and just raved about her message. I was particularly touched by the importance of having a church home. I wish I could find someplace that lists where she is speaking/reading. I would be there in a heart beat.

Rating:
Summary: A Breath of Fresh Air
Review: I'm on my third reading of Traveling Mercies. Anne's refreshing honesty and authenticity have felt to me like someone finally opened the window of the stagnant and suffocating room of current Christian writing. Thank you, Anne.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down....
Review: She writes like we speak...true... deep to the soul and no holds barred.....I loved her honesty and incredible humor. I would recommend this book to anyone, especially someone who has their priorities in the wrong places. She gives you a dose of real life, painful as it is... her outlook opens our awareness of what's important and what to put aside. This is a book I would buy to add to my collection.

Rating:
Summary: What ever it is , I missed it
Review: Simply, I do not understand why the interest in this book. Very confused and lonely person with no answers.

Rating:
Summary: God loves you, all of you
Review: I am enjoying the audio cassette version of this book immensely. I too am a boomer sixties kid, though not nearly as wild as Annie. I am buoyed by her faith and friends. Yes, some of the subjects and language are uncomfortable, but it is Annie. I especially like her two favorite prayers, please, please and thank you, thank you.

Rating:
Summary: The best book I've read in a long time!
Review: This book is real, refreshing, funny, but deeply thought-provoking. The way that Anne shares her life experiences and then ties them in with religious truths helps them to come alive. I feel like I know Anne and would sure like to meet her. She is a great writer! I only hope she writes many more books! I was so sorry when it ended that I went on line and immediately ordered another one!