Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
by Anne Lamott
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Book Reviews of Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
Book Review: Another masterpiece.
Summary: 5 Stars
Each time I read another of Anne Lamott's works, I think it is my all time favorite, until I read the next one. Traveling Mercies is now my favorite. Anne Lamott is one of the most genuine and brutally honest authors I have read. I am not a religious person, and in fact much the opposite, but I loved this book. I loved the way Anne fully admits that she does not "conform" to the traditional ideology of Christianity, and yet Jesus loves her anyway. I love the writing about her son Sam, her lost friend Pammy . . . all the people who have touched her life in one way or another. All of these people make her look deeper inside herself, and also to God, for answers and solutions to problems that we all face every single day. Of course, her sense of humor also plays a part in this book, as I don't think it's possible to read Anne Lamott without reading her sense of humor. It would just be wrong!
Traveling Mercies touches on the issues that we all have with feeling "not good enough" or like a failure; and how to overcome those things through the stark realizations that flash before our eyes now and then and also through humor.
Truly, if I had one wish on this earth before my life runs out, I would wish to meet her and be a part of her life . . . and after reading Traveling Mercies I can see that she is even more of a loving and compassionate person than I had already assumed. Beautiful writing of a beautiful, though messy at times, life.
I admire Anne for being a Christian but for also accepting others in their own faith, no matter what that faith may be. I think that, truly, this should be a required read for anyone who is a Christian . . . a lesson in acceptance because none of us are perfect and none of us will ever believe exactly the same things because we are all so shaped by our life experiences. Anne Lamott is truly beautifully amazing, and I recommend this book, and all of her others, to everyone.
Book Review: Put me out of my misery
Summary: 1 Stars
Having read previously published books by Anne LaMott, I admit I was unenthusiastic about reading this book group selection. Much of the material is rehashed from previous works but now autobiographically instead of as "fiction."
I found her self-depricating tone to be disingenuous and much of her self pity to stem from personal problems that were self-inflicted. (Did that last sentence mention "self?") The book is centered on her self involvement which often attempts to depict herself as being gritty, worldly, and street-experienced.
While she has had experience as an alcoholic and sex addict, she never seems to rise above it in any inspirational way. Authors such as Frank McCort of Angela's Ashes and Jeannette Walls of the Glass Castle were confronted with horrible childhoods but managed to survive with a spunk and spirit I admired. I couldn't figure out what was so bad in Anne LaMott's life that she had to complain about and/or turn to self abuse to cope. I grew up with my own share of dysfunction but chose to take a more optimistic outlook on life.
Although I agree with many of her political points of view, it did not sit well with me how she launched personal attacks on those who held opposing views. "The New Adventures of Old Christine" is able to satirize those annoying holier-than-thou mothers at the PTO in a much more humorous way and that's saying a lot for a TV situation comedy compared to this literary selection.
I forced myself to finish the last third of the book after our book group discussion because those chapters seemed to be the most poignant. Yes, that was the best part of the book. The chapters about being kind to her aging body and dealing with aging parents were the most honest and touching sections.
Even so, this is not a book I would recommend to someone looking for emotional uplift or spiritual insight.
Book Review: Delightful writing if you can take the egomania
Summary: 4 Stars
I resisted reading this book based on the many 1-star reviews it received on this site. I just knew that I would agree with all those readers who, clutching their stomachs, had pleaded with Anne to "ponder pride as one of the seven deadly sins." For some reason, however, I did read the book and I am here to tell you that, yes, it was relentlessly self-absorbed, but it is still a book that I feel has value. Part of the reason I may have enjoyed it is that I am a lot like Anne, except that I didn't have intellectual parents or a child out of wedlock, or become a Christian or an alcoholic (although my problem with bulimia -- on the vanguard before there was even a name for it, and long-resolved -- was worse than hers). I thoroughly understand her need to refer everything back to herself, and the capacity to be prodigiously witty as long as one is looking in the mirror. For those people who don't have such narcissism, it may be trying to endure a 15-page rant about her hair, which you just know she loves, and is only complaining about in order to flaunt. I understand the fragile gratitude which can turn all your particular friends and their children into the most amazing and singular people on earth, and your epiphanies and triumphs into the most breathlessly momentous. Sure, she was the architect of most of her own misery, but so was I, and that doesn't make it any easier to take, it just makes it more pathetic and picayune. The book must be approached as you would a diary, not a mature work of spiritual accomplishment. While several chapters were so overworked that they reminded me of Hawaiians making poi, others were gripping and direct. Ms. Lamott has a rapier-sharp wit, which is trained primarily on herself, and though her spiritual struggles may seem jejune to some, they are reported candidly. If you can cut her some slack, there is much to relish about being a voyeur to her inner workings.Book Review: A Great Read
Summary: 5 Stars
"Traveling Mercies" is a book about both humanity and spirituality. It is also about accepting with grace the idea that we are all have an "E Ticket" on an unpredictable rollercoaster ride. Lamott finds that it is only faith that's gives her an anchor and a point of reference as "life happens".Anne Lamott walks us through her own amazing story complete with pain, glory, revelation, heartache, serendipity, tragedy, self-loathing, tiny-but-profound personal victories and the eventual peace of self-acceptance (sort of.) Sound familiar? That's because we are seeing the reflection of our own lives in Annie's mirror.
What do I have in common with the author? We are both humans. Beyond that, not much. I am not female, liberal, a recovering addict, a former atheist or have I suffered from bad hair. But I'm betting most readers see glimpses of their own personal photo albums throughout this remarkable book. It's just that all of our pictures are a little different. The difference is perspective.
It's amusing to see some of the reviews in which readers are badly missing the point. Lamott writes willingly (and ironically) about her about her obsessions, self-destructiveness and compulsive/addictive behavior. She has achieved a truce with her shortcomings -- and, implicitly, is suggesting all of us accept our own imperfections (and those of others). If we wait for "perfect", we'll be waiting a long time. That's why it's ironic to read reviews in which a few readers complain that she exposes her faults on the pages of the book. And seems obsessive about it .... Hello, fellow reviewers? Anybody home?
By the way, the book is also laugh-out-loud hilarious from time to time. Read slowly, let it sink in and enjoy. Travelling mercies to you, too, Anne.
Book Review: An Interesting Story of Conversion and Faith
Summary: 4 Stars
I am not sure what I expected when I began to read Anne Lamott's TRAVELING MERCIES, except that I would probably enjoy the book. After reading BIRD BY BIRD, her volume about writing and the literary life, where she mentions the role of faith in her life, I decided to purchase the book and read it.
Perhaps the best way to describe Anne Lamott is to say that she is a contradiction in the interesting and best meaning of this word, and for Lamott, this is a compliment. The story of her coming to faith and becoming a practicing Christian has all the same qualities of a standard Christian conversion, but the way she lives her faith is anything but typical. She is proud to be a free thinking liberal, but she belongs to a Church that is filled with the stereotypical "church ladies" whom she admires. She is a close friend with a number of Catholic priests, yet she would probably have some issues with a number of Catholic teachings. She is not enamored of right wing fundamentalists, but while her opinions may differ from theirs, she shares their conviction. She is hardly conventional, but then again Jesus Christ was not either, and his followers were not conventional either.
While the picture of God in this book is clearly Anne Lamott's version of God, the book is hardly a "God and Jesus Christ in my terms and my terms only." Lamott struggles with living a life of faith, acknowledging that her life now is always better than her life before faith, but not always easier. Throughout the book we get a sense that Lamott see how far she has come in faith, but also knows that she has a ways to go. In other words, she is just like all believers, a work in progress, which gives all of us a sense of encouragement.