[Part 1 of a 2 Part Series]
Anne Lamott signing copies of her new book, Imperfect Birds, on April 23, 2010 in Northern CA.
Anne Lamott spoke to a packed crowd last Friday in Petaluma, CA (forty miles north of San Francisco). The sold-out event at Copperfield’s Bookstore was for a reading of her new novel, Imperfect Birds.
But with Anne Lamott, you always get more than just an author reading his/her material. With Anne you get humor, passion, intelligence, authenticity, social and political commentary, family updates, and wisdom about life in general. Phew—that’s a lot to pack into a ninety-minute talk—but that’s part of what makes Anne Lamott such a popular author with devoted fans (like me).
The other part is that she is a stellar writer. I think she would have a large readership based just on her oeuvre alone—even if she never did book tours and was an A-hole in her personal life. People would still like her because her writing makes sense and is so enjoyable and inspiring.
But add in the fact that she is a compassionate person and willing to share her insights (sometimes gleaned from the non-glamorous times in her life) in an effort to help/enlighten people, makes her admirable.
Before reading a section of Imperfect Birds, Anne first told of its origin, which is part three of a trilogy—based around the characters of a mom named Elizabeth; her daughter, Rosie; and her BFF Rae. Anne said that she “finds the sacred in the miracle of close enduring friendships.” She says all of her books encompass the themes of what she cares about: family, friends, how to raise the young, and how to come through the seemingly unsurvivable times in life.
Anne’s comments about DRUG USE by our youth comprised a large portion of her talk (part of the plot of her new book). She said a preponderance of drugs is available to kids at the junior high level, including prescription drugs. The woman sitting to my right whispered to me that she had a daughter in the seventh grade and that it wasn’t true about the drugs. (A naive parent perhaps?) Anne said teenagers have a stealth quality, like they have worked for the CIA. (My comment: Been there, done that.)
Anne spoke about teenage drug deaths every year in Marin County; the “hooking up” that teenage girls do to service boys (her comment: “It’s disgusting.”); how teens experiment with drugs (her comment: “I took a lot of acid. I’m sure you can’t tell.”); how parents sometimes look away from their children’s drug use because they did drugs themselves (her comment: “You’re the one with the problem.”); and about internet articles that show kids how to fool parents on drug tests. Anne said that people all over the country come up to her with stories about drug overdoses by a family member or friend.
Anne talked about addiction, which she described as a set of behaviors:
Use –> bad consequences –> use –> bad consequences –> use –> bad consequences, etc.; the gist being that the addict never learns. She said a person can’t rescue/save/fix anyone; “no one has ever gotten an alcoholic sober;” the gist being that the person has to do it him/herself.
Anne also talked about ANGER: how certain events in a person’s life sets up a lifetime of fear. She said you couldn’t get well from a great tragedy unless you let it out—“vociferously.” (My comment: My Grandma Anna’s comment: “Better out than in.”)
She said that women feel if they express anger that they will “be kicked out of the tribe.” She said our society has the view that “an angry woman is a woman with a problem.”
I have no trouble expressing anger in front of or towards anyone, which I do on a regular basis. Doesn’t bother me a bit. Anne said it is “terrible to disallow your emotions.” I totally agree.
After the commentary about the book, Anne read a section of it (always entertaining). I have started Imperfect Birds (aren’t we all?) and will blog my book report when I’ve finished.
The finale of the evening was a Q&A portion, with excellent questions from the audience. To be continued in Part 2. Stay tuned….
