Anne Lamott

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007
hosted by Powells Books
Bagdad Theater, Portland Oregon.

I arrived 20 minutes early and the theater was already packed; they closed the doors soon after I slipped in. I couldn't find a seat so I sat quietly on the steps in the balcony. Anne Lamott started by welcoming everyone, talking about how she's coped with the Bush administration for the past four years, her relationship with her son, about living life sober and transitioned into a reading a piece titled "Nudges" from her new book Grace, Eventually.

After reading, Lamott talked about appreciating truthful writing, "especially when it's funny." She emphasized. Lamott touched on the difficulties of writing fiction based on reality, how some friends/family take it well, while it's more difficult for others. Lamott spoke of one incident where angry friend went so far as to speak with her publisher. "If people wanted you to write better stories about them, they should have treated you better," Lamott joked.

I fist came across Lamott's writing in undergrad through her craft book, Bird by Bird . This book helped me strengthen my writing, it was encouraging and inspiring and a great book for writers just starting out. For a while, during her reading, she touched on the same subjects I enjoyed in Bird by Bird-- about finding a "space" for story, shitty first drafts and how the first year of writing a novel is just about getting to know your characters.

Lamott ended with a piece she'd written on assisted suicide, a controversial piece as Lamott openly talks about being a Christian. I appreciated her ending with this heartfelt, tender piece about a very tough topic to discuss in the Christian community.

Lamott's reading was engaging because it struck a nice balance between conversation with the audience and reading from her books. I enjoyed sitting on the steps, listening to her.