num_pages: 251
description: The most honest, wildly enjoyable book written about motherhood is surely Anne Lamott's account of her son Sam's first year. A gifted writer and teacher, Lamott (Crooked Little Heart) is a single mother and ex-alcoholic with a pleasingly warped social circle and a remarkably tolerant religion to lean on. She responds to the changes, exhaustion, and love Sam brings with aplomb or outright insanity. The book rocks from hilarious to unbearably poignant when Sam's burgeoning life is played out against a very close friend's illness. No saccharine paean to becoming a parent, this touches on the rage and befuddlement that dog sweeter emotions during this sea change in one's life.
language: English
title: Operating Instructions
titlecomplete: Operating Instructions
genres: Parenting, Biography, Memoir, Essays, Adult, Biography Memoir, Writing, Humor, Nonfiction, Family
ratings_count: 24939
publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC