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Summary: Real Life Parenting
Review: I now harbor a secret wish to have Anne Lamott as a friend. She tells the truth in this book. It may not be pretty, but it is honest and frequently hilarious. Parenting is hard, sometimes you don't like your kids, but you love them always. Lamott reminds you of that on every page of Operating Instructions. Now the "touchie-feelie perfect mommy" tribe will likely be shocked by some of what Lamott says, but it is honest, funny and often touching. I envy the woman her strength, her faith and her friends. Her son is about nine or ten now, I would love to see her confront his teenage years in a similar book.
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Summary: Not a very helpful book
Review: I received this book as gift--it did not look like something I'd like since I have children already, but I read it anyway...This book is supposed to be about the first year of a little boy's life, but instead it focuses more on his single mother's therapy and past problems with drugs and alcohol. If you are in the same boat as she, you may find the book humorous. However, I fell into the category of those with husbands (she seems to like putting down women who have partners), so I didn't find it amusing. This would have been a great opportunity to tell it like it is, but most of the book didn't focus on the title matter at all. I would not recommend this book...
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Summary: Everything a book should be.
Review: This book mirrored every moment and every feeling I have had since I have given birth to my daughter 8 months ago. This book is raw life. I hate to have to say it, but I laughed, I cryed and I recommended it to everyone I know. It was truly a book you can't put down.
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Summary: Must read for new mothers
Review: For all the mothers that desparately love their baby that drives them crazy. Just the right dose of reality and religion.
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Summary: Sure it's a must-read, and yet...
Review: I really appreciate this lady's intelligent bluntness about religion, early motherhood and getting over big mistakes, and God, she writes so lyrically when she wants to--but she whines and whines and WHINES about how damaged and insecure she is, and the impression of self-absorption this leaves mars the book. We don't get the pleasure of inferring who the author is from how she reads her beloved son and others (and with a writer this good, what a pleasure that would be!); instead, we get to hear all about the author, all the time. There's no fun or subtlety in that, and the attention-seeking involved is a little sad. The wonderful parts of this book come when she runs into things that are too big for her and her need for attention, and she just makes a song of it all--just plays that honest voice and that big heart, which are really such amazingly fine instruments when she lets them be. The very worst parts are when she gets tired and very clearly settles for just blathering out something that she thinks might amuse and sound confessional at the same time. That is NOT so very honest. Where was the editor? It's perfectly obvious that Lamott is way bright, strong enough to sober up, a loving mother who provides her child with shelter, love, family and faith, a genius at friendship, and an honest-to-God literary success. If she ever realizes that she is, in fact, highly competent, maybe she'll shut up about it and do some more of her really great writing. Then she'd almost certainly be among the best we've got.
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Summary: ferociously funny
Review: I bought this book while I was pregnant. I took it home and read it in one night.I laughed out loud so hard, my husband kept looking in on me. I lent it to my mother and she thought it was too sad and depressing. I have reread it so many times since my son was born, there are so many ways to relate to anne's experience. This book has inspired me by keeping my own journal and I have tried to enliven it with more heartfelt entries. I was touched by the honesty of her writing, feelings most people would be ashamed to admit. I have always wondered how Sam turned out and if Anne fell in love and got married. Please write a sequel.
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Summary: A must read for new mothers of a newborn!
Review: I could not put this book down (except to breast feed)! Anne Lamott captures all the joys and blues of being a new mother, written in a very enjoyable way. She validated everything that I am going through.
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Summary: Wish I had it when raising my children
Review: What Dr. Spock never told you. I felt like an unatural mother when faced with many problems
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Summary: Laugh out loud funny - a must for all mothers
Review: This book was worth every penny. It was laugh out loud funny. At times I laughed so hard my husband thought new motherhood had finally got the best of me. At the same time, Anne Lamott touches on real fears of a new mother and focuses on day to day life with a new baby with such reality, I was continuously nodding in agreement. She articulates the wonderment and awe that a mother feels trying to adjust to life with this new creature. The only thing I didn't like about this book was that it ended!
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Summary: Wonderful -- confirms that you are not alone!
Review: I read this book about three months after my son was born, and it was a great comfort for a number of reasons. First, it really made me laugh, and we all know there is nothing like a good belly laugh to relieve that new-parent stress! Second, many times my experiences were the same as hers, so the book provided me with a wonderful sense of validation and camraderie. Third, because I felt she was so accurate about the first three months, I was confident that her tales of the rest of the year were indeed realistic. It was nice to have that kind of "heads up," so to speak! This book is for anyone who has ever had moments of doubt, craziness, frustration, wonder and rapture about their child! It is not another "motherhood is the greatest thing on earth" book, but instead is a realistic portrait of the ups and downs you go through when trying to grow into the role of MOM.
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