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Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year | 
 enlarge | Author: Anne Lamott
Publisher: Anchor
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $3.72
You Save: $10.23 (73%)
New (44) Used (36) Collectible (3) from $3.72
Rating:  154 reviews
Sales Rank: 10525
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 1400079098
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781400079094
ASIN: 1400079098
Publication Date: March 8, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Excellent customer service. Order inquiries handled promptly.
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Amazon.com Review
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.
Product Description
It’s not like she’s the only woman to ever have a baby. At thirty-five. On her own. But Anne Lamott makes it all fresh in her now-classic account of how she and her son and numerous friends and neighbors and some strangers survived and thrived in that all important first year. From finding out that her baby is a boy (and getting used to the idea) to finding out that her best friend and greatest supporter Pam will die of cancer (and not getting used to that idea), with a generous amount of wit and faith (but very little piousness), Lamott narrates the great and small events that make up a woman’s life.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 149 more reviews...
 Not Her Best December 29, 2008
I think she is an amazing author, but I just couldn't buy into this one. It just felt so narcissistic to me (obviously it's a memoir, but even at that, it just felt so completely over the top that I just couldn't stomach it). She has such amazing thoughts on faith and God, it just makes you want to write them all down and keep her quotes in your pocket. But then she gets started on tangents (and language) and she loses my interest, because I know she can do better (and has: Traveling Mercies and Bird by Bird are both works that I really enjoyed). So, I'll give Grace (Eventually) a shot, if nothing else but for the amazing spirituality (and quotes that I will keep in my pocket for a rainy day).
 Good, but not for new moms October 19, 2008
This was an interesting read, a friend lent me the book. It had a lot of "god" in there, but beyond that, the story rang true. I think anyone who has ever had a newborn can relate to a lot of her thoughts and stories. I do wonder how Sam is doing now, he would be what? 18 or so?
I have to say that any staunch republicans would probably not like it as she's also got quite a bit of politics in here. But I think people have to remember that reading a memoir is like reading someone's journal. They are going to be offensive and sometimes even mean. I think if they aren't then the memoir is entirely too watered down.
She does drone a bit and gets lost in the text at times. I don't know that I would give this one to a brand new mother, but as a mom of a 5 and 8 year old, I found it interesting to "think back". A good read.
Whiny and Negative June 25, 2008
2 out of 10 found this review helpful
This book is about an extremely emotionally ill women, who has spent her entire life avoiding reality with coke, meth, and alcohol, who now sober at 35 gets knocked up by one of the random men she is sleeping with. (She apparently is too hippie for condoms.)
Maybe it's because I don't have kids, but I find a mother doing nothing but go on and on and on about her kids every movement very monotonous and boring. Not only is that what she writes about in this book, but she is extremely negative, cynical and it's annoying.
 A must-have for new mothers June 16, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book helped me survive my first-born. It was such a breath of fresh air, and Lamott was like my best friend, sharing the same experiences. I have read this book countless times - and laugh out loud each time. I always send this book to all my friends when they have their first born. (As you can see by my order history.) This is a much better tool than any of the how-to baby books out there. I absolutely love it!
 Ok.... May 10, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Funny at times, way too religious at others.
Overall just "ok"
I would recommend "Mother Shock" by Andrea J Buchanan instead.
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