Books Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
Books and Publications Average Rating:

Rating: - I love (LOVE) Annie but...
I adore this woman for her faith, her wit and her unbelievable ability to keep on "keepin on" but the politics in this book just about drove me over the edge. I know, I know... to love Annie is to expect her political rantings. I kept reading and I did gleam little nuggets here or there of the Annie I know & love. It was worth the read, if only I could fast forward some of the politic heavy chapters.

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Rating: - Anne is back
Anne Lamott is back in all of her glorious humor, angst, and wisdom. If you haven't discovered Anne yet, she is shock therapy for those of us who learned how to be religious before we learned how to be human.

In Traveling Mercies, Anne shared her crooked journey through alcoholism, bulimia, and broken relationships to a connection with St. Andrews Presbyterian Church and Jesus. Now, in Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, Anne shares the new challenges to her faith: The Bush Administration, her aging mother, menopause, the losing friends to illness, teaching Sunday School, and raising her teen-aged son, Sam. While many of her crises in Plan B are stock milestones of middle age they are no less poignant when rendered by Anne's pen.

Anne's power comes from her unflinching authenticity, a scarce quality in the self-serving industry of memoir writing. Anne describes her life has it happens, without bothering to airbrush away her neurotic impulses and imperfections. Her self-depreciating humor and honesty creates a picture of spirituality reminiscent of Dostoevsky; we are all simultaneously noble and depraved. As I read Plan B, I laughed with Anne at her foibles and became more honest about my own.

Anne Lamott, along with Fredrick Buechner, might be the best living Christian Author that you can't find at a Christian book store. Anne elevates cursing to a literary art form. More significantly, Anne is openly pro-choice and pro-gay rights. She addresses God as a feminine being. Some readers might balk at her left-wing politics. However, I'd challenge any reader to see Anne as more than the sum of her politics and ideas. Reading anything by Anne Lamott creates the opportunity to remember that God wills and works through your bad attitudes, flawed character, and humanity. Wading through Anne's positions is worth any personal risk you might feel. Encountering her writing style is a joyous experience and you'll bump into God's grace as often as you will step in piles of human frailty.

Anne is back and triumphant.

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Rating: - Could not get past the venom
Traveling Mercies ranks as one of my favorites. Though my political viewpoint is quite different from the authors, her insights that illustrate how you could work around your own bias and experience the holy in your own human failings was totally up my alley.

I was sorely disappointed by the venom that whacks you upside the head shortly after opening the book. I guess loving your neighbor as yourself only applies to those folks whose politics are not too far off from your own.

I had to get it returned before it tainted my love of her other books. If it were not for those other writings I would have rated this book NO stars! I pray that her next offering will be more about faith than hate.

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Rating: - Anne Lamott is tops!
Refreshing, honest, and a lyric writer, Anne Lamott is a wonderful discovery. These three books, "Traveling Mercies," "Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith", and "Grace (Eventually) Thoughts On Faith" are the best books I've read all year! I don't think it matters if you are Christian or not, because her books are about her journey from alcoholism and drug addiction, to a discovery of a God of unconditional Love that speaks to everyone.

Wonderful, exhilarating stories and writing!