Anne Lamott+

SMALL GOOD THINGS

People forgot to tell us growing up how hard being human was going to be.

CHILD’S POSE

CHILD’S POSE

SOMETIMES A SMALL NOTION

[A guest post from my current husband]

BANANAS

August, ugh, not my favorite month.

Dreams Coming True

I cannot believe I got to talk with the incomparable Amy Poehler on (among other things) Good Writing, the new writing book my husband and I wrote.

DANCE

As the magnificent Molly Ivins’ wrote, You Got to Dance With Them What Brung You. Someone brought you to the dance of who and where you are now, and good manners instruct us that you can’t abandon them for someone you see across the room whom you are sure would make you shiver with new life forever, plus have more money and cable stations.

THE FOURTH IS WITH US

Poor old baby nation, a big birthday and no one feels like celebrating.

IDIOT WIND

I am not a good sport about the wind.

My personal husband thinks he knows something about writing

Now Neal's stepping on my turf with a writing retreat of his own

A NICE OLD PIECE

I wrote this for the National Geographic, for the holy days of 2020 during the dread and isolation of Covid and Trump; edited for length.

DAVID ROCHE AND THE SECRET OF LIFE

The majestic Mr. Roche died this week. I told the story of the early days of our friendship at Salon magazinein 1999.

MIXED GRILLE

MIXED GRILLE

IT'S MEMORIAL DAY: Want to write a memoir?

Here's a piece I wrote for the Ethel Magazine at AARP

ONLINE, MAY 30, NEXT SAT, 11:00. Open link!

Let me know

COME JOIN ME AND A WRITING ROOM COLLECTIVE FOR A FREE OPEN HOUSE

I’ll give a talk and Q&A. You’ll do some writing and connecting.

LET US COMMENCE

I gave the 2003 undergraduate and interdisciplinary studies commencement address at the University of California at Berkeley.

OY VEH, MOTHER’S DAY

The three day weekend of Mother’s Day begins today, where strangers and cashiers exhort us to have a nap hap happy one.

GOLD

Half the time when someone announces, “Here’s the thing,” I bristle: Did God stop by their home that morning with a Power Point presentation?

"How I Write" with David Perell

I got to do the"How I Write" podcast with David Perell when we were on book tour for "Good Writing." Anybody wanna know how I write?

From whence I sprang

Prayer of an Unconventional Family

TODAY

There is so much evil and heartbreak happening right now.

KIND OF GOOD FRIDAY

An old, updated piece:

Wednesday, I think

We are on our last day and night of our book tour, in San Diego, and I have a bad cold and am not expected to pull through.

Friday

We arrived in New York City on an Acela two days ago, ten minutes after finding out we had gotten a miracle: our little writing book had hit the New York Times bestseller list, without having gotten a single review.

SAND

We sing a hymn in church whose refrain ends, "and all around is sinking sand," and I have felt this since, oh, approximately November 2024 .

Live with Amanda de Cadenet and Anne Lamotte

A recording from Anne Lamott and Amanda de Cadenet's live video

GOOD WRITING IS NOW ON SALE

It’s publication day for Good Writing: 36 Ways to Improve Your Sentences, a conversation between my husband Neal Allen and me, on all things writing.

I GOT TO BE IN GRETCHEN RUBIN'S HAPPINESS NEWSLETTER TODAY

Anne Lamott Can’t Stop Talking About…

SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR?

By Anne Lamott

WAVES

Half of the country felt sad, terrified and defeated even before the First Epstein War broke out ten days ago; and those were the good old days.

SO NOW WHAT?

SO NOW WHAT?

THURSDAY

I hate this one part of being a writer, the month before publication when there is nothing happening to indicate whether or not your new book will do okay, or if you and your family will be so disgraced that you’ll end up at the Rescue Mission.

A CONVERSATION WITH KELLY CORRIGAN

Kelly Corrigan is one of my favorite people in the world, brilliant, of course, but more than that, deeply human, and I was so excited when she invited me into this conversation.

CONDIMENTS DAY

Here is something you will love and use forever, although there will also be sneakiness and manipulation involved in the telling, and at least half of you will roll your eyes at what a macaroon I am

ASHES

Here is an old piece that I recycle every few years, that I need today:

LOVE 101

This is a holiday that makes a lot people feel isolated and sad.