About this title: From the writer of the best-selling OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS comes this timely tract on the art of writing--an anecdotal, frank step-by-step guide on how to write and how to manage a writer's life. Offers advice on getting started, character, plot, dialogue, writer's block, writing groups, publication, and more.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Anchor
Date Published: 1995-09-01
ISBN-13:9780385480017ISBN:0385480016
Description: Good. Used for class has underlining and notes. No highlighting. Cover shows some wear or creases. Pages yellowed/tanned. Write like a Pro! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Anchor Books
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780385480017ISBN:0385480016
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Has a gift inscription signed by the author. Cover has wear. Has some general wear. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 272 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Anchor Books
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780385480017ISBN:0385480016
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Pages are a little tanned. Has a little wear. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 272 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good; 1995. 0385480016. Good reading copy with mild edge wear from handling. Unmarked.; Softcover; Anchor Books/Random House; NY; Twenty-Ninth Printing; Small 8vo 7½"-8" tall; 238 pages. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Anchor Books
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780385480017ISBN:0385480016
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Spine straight w/o creases, binding tight, no reader/remainder/library marks, covers/pgs flat w/sharp corners, very slight shelf wear. 238 numbered pgs., Audience: General/trade. Photos/other info available by e-mail. Daily(M-F)orders/e-mail responses. E-mail confirmation of shipment. Books stored in smoke-free, climate controlled environment. Check our feedback. read more
Edition: First Edition, 29th Printing
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Anchor Books/Doubleday, New York, NY
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780385480017ISBN:0385480016
Description: Near Fine in None as Issued jacket. Text/Bright, clean and Near New. Illustrated soft cover/NF. Guidance for writers by a writer. The title, Bird by Bird, was inspired by Anne Lemott's father who once advised a sibling struggling with a school report on avian life. "Just take it bird by bird. " This approach, for writers of fiction, to relax and write character by character and not dwell on the plot is what is meant by "bird by bird". Fine copy. read more
Edition: First edition. First Anchor Books Edition
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Anchor Books
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780385480017ISBN:0385480016
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Minor shelf-wear to cover. Small stain spot on first few pages. No marks or tears, clean and tight. A Warm, generous and hilarious guide through the writer's world and its treacherous swamps. Witty and hilarious! read more
Description: Brand New. Paperback. "Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, ... read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon, New York and London
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780679435204ISBN:0679435204
Description: Very Good- in Good+ jacket. Very Good-First Edition, with front end page neatly torn out. DJ fully intact, but with some staining along top inch. Interior tight; some pencil remarks in margins & ink checks throughout. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Anchor Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780385480017ISBN:0385480016
Description: Very Good. No Jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. First edition/eight printing book is tight with no markings, some tanning to pages, wraps have some rubbing and mild soiling edges have curling/creasing. read more
"I go back and read this book pretty regularly. I just love it. It was first assigned to me in my second year of college when I was taking a lot of writing classes, and what I found was a book that, more than shaping the way I write or think about writing, shaped how I think about getting through tasks at hand. She is all humorous, reflective, candid, and wise on at least every other page.
I love to collect quotes and passages like little trinkets, and one of my favorites comes from this book. In Lamott's chapter on writing from a moral point of view, she says, "...perhaps we have the same problem with the word 'solution' as we do with the word 'moral.' It sounds so fixative, and maybe we have gone beyond fixing. Maybe all we can do is to make our remaining time here full of gentleness and good humor." Amen sista friend.
The title of the book sort of reflects what the whole idea behind the book is: that a research paper on birds left til the last minute can cause huge amounts of stress and strain, but the only way to get through it is just start writing, bird by bird. And so we do."
"Anne Lamott has a way with a phrase, and she's used those talents to her advantage in Bird. "People used to tell me I dressed like John Goodman" (page 170). Although this reference may go over the heads of some contemporary teenagers, the material is remarkably fresh despite an initial publication date of fifteen years ago. She instructs on the gracious handling of jealousy, managing expectations on publication dates, escaping libel, and writer's block, which she refers to in the form of "Radio Station KFKD." She's so tender when extinguishing dreams with the greatest of care. The purchase of this book is a much cheaper alternative to enrolling in the writing courses taught by the author. Readers need not be aspiring writers to appreciate the material. Lamott has lived an interesting life and much of it is woven into the stories, and she doesn't flinch from poking fun at herself when she took life too seriously. Reading the book is reminiscent of going out for tea with the friend who will always give it to you straight, and this reviewer will answer any invitation offered by Lamott in the future.
You might also like: a similar treatise from Stephen King, called On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2003) or On Writing Well: the Classic Guide to Writing Non-Fiction."
"My suggestion: read Traveling Mercies first, so that you can know who Anne Lamott is. But even if you don't, this is a very good book about writing. She tells you how to do it...by suggestions and of course, by EXAMPLE...her own!"
"I read this book for a school project and I was honestly expecting it to be hard to read since it is a book about writting. But I was pleasantly surprised when I found this book to be quite enjoyable. Anne Lamott did a great job of encorperating relavent and interesting examples through out the entire book. She showed that even the best of writters get stuck and make mistakes, but working through this is what makes great writing. The book is also presented in a very organized way, making it easy to refer back to it at any time. I learned so much from this book it would be tough to mention everything since almost every page contains some sort of helpful information. I learned that I should never let writing overwhelm me, that I should just write my thoughts as they come to me and focus on one thing at a time. I should always have a rough draft and understand that most of the time it will not be good, but it will give me the ability to revise my writing and slowly create a great finished product. I usually will not be able to predict what my finished product will be because it will create itself if I follow the correct to steps to writing. This book has changed my outlook on writing and I am so glad I took the time to read it because I am truly gratefull for the confidence it has given me. I would most certianly recommend Brid by Bird to anyone."
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