Rating: 
Summary: Makes Me Want to Become a Baptist
Review: This book is full of witty, touching, sad, lovely stories and wise insights from this wonderful writer, Anne Lamott. I've read almost everything she has written, and while her fiction seems somewhat dull and bland, her nonfiction is supreme, full of passion and love and humility--it's hard not to think of her as having an expansive, generous soul. I belong to a church I rarely visit, a church full of stiff ceremony, dusty old prayer books, and stale bread--they should all have to read this book, I think, the members of my church, so some feeling can flow back into their cold blue veins, and they can remember that humanity, love, compassion, and forgiveness are at the heart of true religion. I love this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Spirituality for the Non-Religious
Review: What a lovely book of revelation, personal quest, and spiritual fulfillment! Anne Lamott takes the reader along on a personal journey that is both difficult and heartbreaking, but which rings with the realization that there is life after no-matter-what-kind of previous life you might have had. We travel her road of addiction and grief as she searches for the right path in her life, while at the same time we become involved and caring in her life. When she stumbles into a community church after years of denying the need for religion, not to mention Christianity, she finds the home that she didn't even realize she needed. Her subsequent acceptance of Christ as her savior is as much surprise as it is revelation, and it becomes a life-changing event. Not only can she fight, and defeat, her addiction, she can also pray with her son whenever life affords a problem that seems insurmountable. But this is not a schmaltzy touchy-feely book of fundamentalist dogma. It is truly a blessing, both for the author and for the reader. The simple acceptance of God and His healing power along with the love and comfort of a supportive community illustrate the changes that can occur when one is ready to surrender to a higher power. It ends too soon and one longs for "the rest of the story." Let's all hope that Anne Lamott will continue the saga of her spiritual journey.
Rating:
Summary: These Mercies
Review: Read this book!I first saw Anne Lamott on the Rosie O'Donnell show, with her dread locks and warm personality, I put this book on that mile long list in my head of books to get. It was quite some time after, I was getting books to take with me on a trip that Traveling Mercies became the perfectly timed book for me to read. Anne Lamott writes like she's talking to you as a friend. I would recommend this book to anyone, even if they are not a religious person. For me, it spanned beyond religion, and became a book about life. It came into my life at a time when my mother was having cancer surgery, so perfectly timed. This is a story about Anne's journey while finding her faith, becoming a mother, dealing with very large problems and passing her quirky wisdom onto us, the reader.
Rating: 
Summary: 3.5 stars: Stand-up spirituality; or, Religion at the Improv
Review: Anne Lamott makes Kathleen Norris seem stodgy and Rebecca Walker seem prim. She writes with a crackle and snap that can be endearing or enervating, depending on her topic. The story is familiar: a child of the 60s discovers that religion isn't just for octogenarian bishops, it's for cool people like you and me. Cool = progressive, in case we haven't learned that by now. There are passages that should be read aloud to a friend or relative or spouse or captive listener, to be fully appreciated. On substance abuse, Lamott combines the wisdom of the Serenity Prayer with the savagely funny humor of Denis Leary. Truly memorable. If we read this as an autobiography of a funny & fascinating gal, we won't be disappointed. But if we're looking for a faith that transcends the narrow, doctrinaire confines of hollery redhamite progressivism, we probably won't find it in "Traveling Mercies." When Lamott writes about abortion, she is ardently pro-choice, as might befit someone whose first child succumbed to a "legal medical procedure." But her detailing of the after-effects of that procedure could be used as material in a pro-life argument. Also, witness her reluctance when counseled by a clergyman to end her second pregnancy in a similar fashion. I wanted to throw this book across the room when Lamott describes a man being mean to his dog and says it was the most heartless, brutal, inhumane thing she had ever witnessed. Then she goes on, flippantly, casually, to detail how she once grabbed her child with such force that her fingernails became embedded in his forearm. But it was all right, because she didn't mean it. You see, Anne Lamott is one of the cool people, and cool people don't do mean things. (We could ask which is the more inhumane action: striking a dog with a stick or dismembering a gestating baby, but this rhetorical question might force some people to think. Heaven forbid that persons who are unaccustomed to serious cogitation about moral truths should be forced to think about these things.) There's something endearing, even to this curmudgeon, about Lamott's wisecracks & dreadlocks; her voice is neither omniscient nor Olympian, but she is always ready to give an opinion, and sometimes we find the opinion disagreeable. We're glad to have read "Traveling Mercies," but also glad to have bought it at a used bookstore. There's a fine line between the endearingly hip and the gratingly flippant, and Lamott crosses this line dozens of times, with almost reckless abandon.
Rating:
Summary: Religion for the non-religious
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Lamott's struggle with faith is a real-life, sometimes sorrowful, sometimes joyful, account--just like it is for the rest of us, but with her special gifts to make us go there and experience it with her. It is not heavy-handed in proselytizing, and is a good read for religious and non-religious alike.
Rating:
Summary: A nice book for imperfect people
Review: When was the last time you laughed with your friends listening to them telling the most embarassing stories of their lives? Remember you cried a little too, saying "Oh, it sounds just like me." Sitting down with Ann Lamott's book is almost like meeting a friend you haven't seen for a long time and listening to her endless, funny, scary, sad stories. This book is a must-read for everybody, who has problems with self-esteem (and who doesn't?). It's a book by and about a very imperfect person, full of inner conflicts and fears, who seems to have found the way to love herself. Oh, and there is a little philosophy too, some of it is actually quite controversial. But being a simple person like you and me Ann Lamott probably didn't consider lecturing you on "highly spiritual matters" to be a good idea, so she put it simply - perfect God and imperfect people can have much fun together.
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Summary: It's a non-fiction essay(!)
Review: For those who aren't interested in the non-fiction essay genre, don't read this book! If you are interested, you'll like this. 'Nuff said.
Rating:
Summary: Funny, Inspiring, Comforting
Review: Most other books on faith or spirituality that I've read are solemn, dull, and seem to lecture the reader about how "deep" and "meaningful" life is and how seriously we must always regard it. What a breath of fresh, hilarious air Traveling Mercies is! Anne Lamott expertly delves into the complexity of the human condition in a way that is accessible to everyone and shows us how "deep" and "meaningful" life really is without preaching at us. I love the way she uses her own life to illustrate what it means to just be human. Many readers may not have had problems with alcohol or drugs as she did but her point is, who among us can say they have never struggled with jealousies, resentments, insecurities about their bodies or creativity, or pain and doubt in their personal relationships? Each chapter ended so neatly and gracefully, skillfully tying up all the strands she had laid out. Her lessons in how one can live by small, personal acts of faith and connections to fellow humans, rather than traditional, sanctimonious, grand(iose!)gestures of spirituality was so inspiring! I have been astounded by reviewers who apparently missed her point entirely and seemed to resent reading about faith from a very personal perspective. To my mind, there is no better way to understand and learn about it, as each of us has to develop our own personal sense of faith in order to survive and prosper in this world. I hope many more people read this amazing book (and "get" the message!).
Rating:
Summary: The Spirit of Christianity Alive and Well
Review: Reading Anne Lamott's Traveling Mercies can shock a Christian at first. The irreverence is astounding! But then, driven along by the need to learn what events got Anne to this point in her life--bestselling author, devoted mother--it is hard not to appreciate the stark honesty shown here. Annie is amazing. She must have been aware of the kind of criticism she would face, yet she didn't let that censor her. Folks, the things that happened to Annie on her way to faith happen to many people in the real world. God did happen to have a special plan for her, as He does for all of us, but her road just had a few extra twists in it. Don't criticize her for admitting it. Instead, enjoy her fabulous humor in recounting these very serious problems. Enjoy her power of description. Enjoy seeing her transformed gradually into a Christian--Oh, the C word! Anything but trite, Annie gives us a genuine perspective on faith missing in much of Christian literature today. I've seen them--I work in a book store--pithy volumes of sage advice and empty platitudes. You always get the feeling that those authors have no idea what life is like without God in their lives. Say what you will about Annie, but she knows what that is like, and she is able to impart that knowledge to her readers in her own honest, uproarious way. I've bought this book for a friend, my mother, and my sister. Give a copy to someone you love. And God bless you, Annie.
Rating:
Summary: I laughed and I cried
Review: I too was concerned that this book might be a little too religious for my liking but, instead, it was so down to earth, so real, so everyman. I could MAYBE (maybe) understand why someone might say gen-xers might not like it as much because many of her jokes related to things or people that someone in their mid-forties would readily recognize. I admit, I am 38 and that might have made the reading experience more enjoyable for me. And yet, her writing just sucks you in. I didn't put it down until I finished the book.
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