Product Description
It seems no mother of a newborn has ever been more hilarious, more honest, or more touching than Ann Lamott is in OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS. A single parent whose baby's father is out of the picture, Lamott struggles not only to support her little family by her wits and her writing, but to stay sober at the same time. Faith in God helps; so does her loyal band of helpers, from her childless best friend Pammy to her mother and "Aunt Dudu" to the folks at the La Leche League hotline. And between colic, wheat-free diets, and the triumph of solid food, Lamott learns that blessings and losses come together, and that as our capacity for joy increases, so does our capacity for grief.
"An enormous triumph . . . Charming . . . Powerful . . . A gracious book, with dozens of lovingly drawn characters and a deep, infectious religiosity throughout. It is also funny." -- San Francisco Chronicle
"Smart, funny and comforting . . . Lamott has a conversational style that perfectly conveys her friendly, self-deprecating humor." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review


From the Trade Paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Possibly the funniest book I've ever read
Someone gave this (in paperback) to my sister for her baby shower. She called and read passages to me. Then she gave it to me...and I called people and read passages to them. It is possibly the funniest book I've ever read - and you certainly don't need to be a new parent -- or a parent at all (I'm not) -- to enjoy it. Whenever I'm depressed I pull this out and re-read it. She's so honest about her craziness that she makes it feel OK - and makes me feel a lot saner. Enjoy! ... Read more

Product Description
Don't ask what tomorrow will be like. Ask what it can be like.

Marianne Williamson, the New York Times bestselling author of A Return to Love and Illuminata, did just that-turning to such contemporary thinkers as Thomas Moore (Care of the Soul), Vicki Robin (Your Money or Your Life), and Debbie Ford (The Dark Side of the Light Chasers) for their reflections.

The result is Imagine-a wide-ranging, forward-thinking collection of essays on topics from relationships to religion, from education to the environment to the economy, from food to sex to identity. These original thoughts from today's most original thinkers invite readers to imagine the future as well-with a book that is a provocation, an exhortation, and an invitation to a better world.

Featuring:
Ed Ayres * Sarah Ban Breathnach * John Bradshaw * Fred Branfman * Denise Breton, Christopher Largent and Stephen Lehman * Deepak Chopra * Kokomon Clottey and Aeeshah Ababio-Clottey * Peter Coyote * Stanley Crouch * Sam Daley-Harris * David Deida * Dee Dickinson * Debbie Ford * Peter Gabel * John Gray * Thom Hartmann * Paul Hawken * Hazel Henderson * bell hooks * Barbara Marx Hubbard * Daphne Rose Kingma * David C. Korten * Dennis Kucinich * Michael Lerner * Paul Rogat Loeb * Gay Gaer Luce * Thomas Moore * Caroline Myss * Dean Ornish * James Redfield * John Robbins * Vicki Robin * Robert Roth * Lance Secretan * Peter Senge * Judith A. Sturnick * Eric Utne * Neale Donald Walsch * Margaret J. WheatleyAmazon.com Review
The writers in this optimistic anthology didn't want to buy into thetypical doomsayer theories and gloomy forecasts when imagining the futureof America. Instead, editor Marianne Williamson assembled a soul-stirringgospel choir to sing out vivid, uplifting songs of hope and imagination.When contributor John Robbins imagines the typical family meal in the year2030, he serves organic food bought from the local farmer's market andlovingly prepared by enthusiastic family members--even teenagers. This maysound like pie-in-the-sky talk, but Robbins backs it up with a solid planthat could lead to better diets, healthier food production, and even endworld hunger.

One of the most profound essays comes from Fred Branfman, who writes about"Legacies." He makes a convincing case for imagining the faces of futuregenerations and taking responsibility now to ensure the health oftheir world. Other excellent contributions include Eric Utne (editor ofUtne Reader magazine) speaking on a new media that becomes "theconnective tissue" in our culture, emphasizing community, debate, andconversation. Iyanla Vanzant imagines "Civility," Bell Hooks gives voice to 21st-century sexuality, and John Bradshaw sees the future family. Even ifyou only time travel from your armchair, this is a future you'll want tospend a lifetime creating. --Gail Hudson ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

NOW READ THIS!!!!!!!!
What a wonderful book.I have to admit, there are some areas of the book, and some ideas in the book that I don't necessarily agree with, but at least these authors are talking. They are beginning a conversation that is long over due.

The Most Inspiring Collection of Thinkers Ever!
This is a great book, that is doubly-powerful (no TRIPLY, no QUADRUPALLY powerful!) because so many inspiring thinkers are in it: from Deepak Chopra to Neale Donald Walsch, from James Redfield to Anne Lamott.And these thinkers come from all sectors of society:from John Robbins, a whistle-blower of the food industry, to the actor Peter Coyote; from Eric Utne, founder of the Utne Reader, to educator Dee Dickenson.What Marianne Williamson has assembled is a collection of ideas covering all sectors of society representing the viewpoints of very unique individuals each with differing backgrounds.And the beauty of this diversity is that all the contributors are unified in fundamental ways, all visualizing a more accepting, more loving, more grounded future that can truly celebrate the individual.It is a vision of what can WORK given our true natures, and given the tuggings of our soul for a more love-based world.Everyone in the world ought to read this book!If you're skeptical, go ahead and buy it and try it out.You'll be glad you did, even if it provides fodder for a time for all the reasons you dislike new-agey spiritual types.And for all of you who like me are already new-agey spiritual types, or compassionate open-hearted types, go ahead and check this book out, because you're going to love it!

Utopia Means "Nowhere"
We can all agree that the world would be a nicer place with more personal connection, a real sense of community, freedom to pursue dreams, security to safeguard those dreams, pluralistic tolerance, etc, etc. I do. But in a haphazard series of essys, beyond platitudes and some bad science fiction, I see little in the way of real thinking about the problems that confront the world, or well-reasoned, rigorously analytical responses to those problems. Instead, they range from the laughable to the dangerous--see one author proposing a monolithic Department of Peace with millions of officers devoted to everything from crime to regulation of interpersonal communication to domestic life to workplace interactions. How can somebody who claims allegience to personal freedom cry out for something so Orwellian? These liberal-minded egalitarian essayists would invest more unilateral power in government than John Ashcroft ever had wet dreams about.

The prose, often stilted, blowsy, pretentious or oblivious to its own ridiculousness, is workmanlike. To those that seek out the book, the pronouncements will be comforting. The implementation of its ideas--imagine!--will not be.

Vastly More Practical (and Political) Than Title Suggests

I almost did not buy this book, and I say that because an awful lot of really smart folks might be inclined to turn away on the basis of the title and the possibility that this is a fairy tale wishful-thinking la la land kind of book.It is not.It is practical (and political), it is enriching, and it is over-all a very high quality endeavor that has been well executed.

Four "great truths" are articulated many times over across the various readings, and they merit listing here:

1)Campaign finance reform is the absolute non-negotiable first step that must precede every other reform.Until the people can reassert their great common sense for the common good, and restore the true democratic tradition, nothing else will happen.

2)Neighborhoods are the bedrock of both democracy and sustainable development, and we have spent fifty years building in the wrong direction.New legal and economic incentives must be found to redirect both urban and suburban real estate management back in the direction of self-contained neighborhoods.

3)Local production of everything, from electricity to food to major goods like automobiles) appears to be a pre-requisite for deconflicting high quality of life needs from limited resource availability.The book includes several very intelligent discussions of how this might come about.

4)Networking makes everything else possible, and by this the book means electronic networking.I was especially fascinated by some of the examples of near-real-time sharing that electronic networking makes possible--everything from a neighborhood car to scheduled hand-me-downs of winter coats from one family to another.We have not progressed one mile down the road of what the Internet makes possible at a personal and neighborhood level, and I would recommend this book for that perspective alone.

The creative editorial role must be applauded.From the identification and recruitment of the contributors, to the selection of the photographs that each tell their own story, to the quality of the paper used to create the book, all testify to the competence and knowledge of the editor.

Lastly, it merits comment that the book serves as a very fine calling card from something called The Global Renaissance Alliance, a spiritually-oriented group that nurtures Citizens Circles and uses a web site to provide pointers to resources and other like-minded folk.

Articulating Paths to Improvement
Developing scenarios for how worthy goals might be accomplished is one of the best ways that people make progress.The circumstances never end up being like that, but the insights prove to be worthwhile nevertheless.This thought-provoking book of essays uses that method to come up with many worthwhile observations and useful ideas.If you know the particular essayist's work, in most cases you won't find much new.Some, however, have created new materials that are extremely insightful.

The volume's main weaknesses are two:the viewpoints of the essays' authors aren't varied enough, and the "desirable" outcomes are too easily assumed in many cases.I graded this brilliant book concept down two stars for these weaknesses in execution.

Almost anyone would find benefits from reading this book.Even if you disagree with its premises, you will end up learning about the thinking of a lot of America's top authors.

I was honored to receive this book as a gift from one of my sons, reflecting his knowledge of my desire for assisting social progress through personal effort.

The book contains almost 40 essays, grouped into the following sections:

The Soul of a Nation (What it means to be an American)

Pillars (The basics that we need to flourish from health to meaningful work)

The Rewoven Fabric (Community and identity)

To Whom We Belong (Our relationships and ways of relating from family to divorce to aging)

In God We Trust (Spirituality)

The New Civitas (The new American governmental system)

Each author was asked to think about America 50 years from now in creating a more positive environment.Two essays in the group stood out to me in capturing the essence of the issues throughout the book.The first was by Peter Senge (of Fifth Discipline fame).He points out that there are three ways to think about the future.First, extrapolate current trends.That doesn't work, because "aspects of our present ways of living . . . are not sustainable."Second, we can create a vision of the opposite of something we don't like now.He calls this "reactive imagination."This is "only a disguised version of the present."He correctly points out that many of the essays are of this nature.Third, we can "become agents of creating a future that is seeking to emerge, by becoming more aware of the present.""How did we get where we are?" is a question that begins this investigation.From those roots, we can help establish the foundation for moving into a better direction.

If you read this book, start with Senge's essay.The book will make a lot more sense if you do.It will give you a star to guide by.This essay inexplicably begins on page 167, rather than at the beginning.

The second key essay is at the end by Margaret J. Wheatley (starting on page 401).She did a little experiment.She recruited a group of teenagers to think through these questions about what they want for 50 years from now.Basically, they want a fairer, more cooperative, and more sustaining world.They see a "networked, boundaryless world" unconstrained by the geographical and psychological limits of America.Read this essay second.It gets past a lot of the personal agendas in most of the essays into touching closer to what is universal in our visions.Young people always seem to get these points best.

Few of the essays made it into Senge's third category.As I read the better ones (such as those by Dean Ornish, Lance Secretan, and Peter Gabel), I came away with a vision of our suffering from poor decisions because people are not yet good at thinking through the consequences of their daily decisions.We optimize what is visible and closest to us, even when the distance effects (in time and space) are vastly counterproductive to the modest benefits we receive from what we choose to do today.(An example is eating poor quality food to save money individually, and having society incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in health care costs to "repair" us from our own misguided "money-saving" efforts.)

In a sense, I came away with the notion that if we all learned from Senge and Wheatley, it wouldn't take long to arrive at a better society for all.After you master those lessons, be sure to read Sam Daley-Harris's fine essay on "Activism."

Make the future into what it can best be, consistent with the visions of both those who agree with you . . . and those who do not!Read Thomas Moore's views on "Religion" for useful thoughts about this perspective.

Imagine a better world in Peter Senge's third way! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wow, a break-through for me.
I was just thinking about this book today.I read it about 5 years ago and it really did make a huge change in my life.Starting in middle school I became obsessed with dieting and compulsive eating even though I was not fat.I tortured myself by obsessing over my weight, and how many caleries I ate for years to the point that I forgot how to have fun.This book woke me up, and it made me realize that my favorite color IS red (you'll have to read it).Anyway, no matter your size, if you are constantly concerned with food, dieting, weight and so on, READ THIS.I can't even remember all of what is said, but that I was a different person after I read it. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an over-sized paperback with 275 pages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Our book group loved it!
Our book group at my Episcopal church read this together, and loved every moment of it - the way God led Anne Lamott gently throughout her crazy life with spiritual guides in the person of her friends' parents, music from a nearby church, people who popped up when she was ready for them. If you object to "raw" language and will condemn anyone who uses it, you'll probably be turned off. We felt it was necessary to be true to her story. The image of Jesus waiting outside her room, waiting to be invited in like a stray cat is one that will stay with me forever. He doesn't force us to follow him, he waits. He puts himself and his choices in our way, and we get to let him in or turn away. So much humor in the sadness, such a wonderful odyssey! Thank you, Anne Lamott! ... Read more

Product Description

The challenge for mothers of sons is to realize that because we do not share a sexual identity, that because we have not grown up in a male body, we cannot presume to understand everything there is to know about our sons' worlds.
-- Patricia Stevens

In this absolutely superb collection of mothers' personal narratives, some classic writers, as well as exciting new voices, ponder the conflicts and joys of raising sons. Patricia Stevens's Between Mothers and Sons is the first anthology in which women writers attempt to answer the question that all mothers have contemplated in the course of mothering the opposite sex: "Who is this male child who came out of my body?"

After all, the mother/son relationship is the foundation of all male/female connections. Yet in our culture, it's a relationship that has been far less closely observed than the relationship between mother and daughter.

From the earliest days of nursing to the good-byes as college and adulthood appear on the threshold, from adoptive families to biracial, from Native American to African-American mothers, these pages cover a broad range of experience. These writers collectively explore the delights and frustrations, the deep and often-conflicted emotions they feel in their roles as mothers to their male children.

"Diamonds are forever, but love can easily get lost....I picture the broken pieces of my heart inside me like the shrapnel of a war." In Jo-Ann Mapson's heartbreaking "Navigating the Channel Islands," we read of the intense pain that appears in the wake of her adolescent son's rebellion. On a more comical note, Deborah Galyan's "Watching Star Trek with Dylan" is a must for any mother who has wondered about a young son's love of things mechanical. And Valerie Monroe's bittersweet "Feet" will touch every mother on the planet: "As I unwrapped the slippers and carefully placed them on this rug, I thought, they're his feet, after all. And step by step, they will take him away from me."

Between Mothers and Sons resoundingly, if unflinchingly, celebrates this new journey that we are all making with our boys. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A wonderful anthology
I found this anthology wonderfully refreshing, and very validating.It gives affirmation to the intense emotional endeavor of raising a young man, and allows a communal feeling with other mothers on the same journey.The stories are poignantly shared, and are passionately detailed.I recommend this book to any Mother raising a son!

Inspired *me* to start writing again
Perhaps this collection resonated more deeply with me than other reviewers because I consider myself a feminist *and* a mother of two spirited sons. My eldest son is only five years old and his nemesis/favorite person in the known universe a mere three and a half, but this rich book struck a chord deep within me that has not been played enough as a busy mother. I couldn't get enough of these esays. I am still hungry for more, so I pick up my pen and write a little bit everyday now.

Something here for everyone
As with many short story / essay collections, it is hard to review the book overall as the individual contributions are uneven.
In this case, almost all are moving and at least some will touch a heartstring (or raw nerve!) in every mother.
Many play the feminist angle, which I felt may be somewhat misplaced in a mother-son relationship.
A couple I'd already read in other collections (e.g. `Toddler'), including one of my personal favourites, Jonathan Bing by Priscilla Leigh MacKinley, about a mother who lost her sight during childbirth and has to adapt to becoming blind and the responsibility of responsibility of caring for a new baby at the same time ... the thought alone makes me shudder, but she writes about it beautifully and it was a joy to read again.
All-in-all, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

Memorable reading, great range of experiences
Each in her own way, the writers in this collection make complex connections -- with their sons and with readers.There's a great range of experiences here for the reader who wants to concentrate on the mother-sonrelationship rather than on family relationships in general.

I sometimescried and more often laughed -- but I also thought about my female friendsand their sons, and agreed with what I was reading -- then remembered mymother and sisters and their sons, and argued back -- considered my malefriends, and understood more than I had before.

The authors had somegreat stories to tell, and the quality of the writing fully repaid a second(and for some essays, a third) reading.The author's own very movingcontribution was my favorite, but months after reading the book, there aremany moments I remember.

Incredible
I bought Between Mothers and Sons for myself as a Mother's Day gift when my son was 3 months old. I was moved viscerally by the essays contained in this book. Although I do agree with the reviewer from Wisconsin that thecollective voice of these essays is limited, I feel that the emotionaltumult felt and expressed by these very talented women is universal. ... Read more

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Word count: 4058. ... Read more

Product Description
Recovering Compulsive Dieter is an inspirational reader used by members of Overeaters Anonymous and others with eating disorders, substance abuse problems, or behavior addictions. Anonymous individuals decided to produce this daily reader to more fully reflect our experience with diet remedies and compulsive dieting. Such collective wisdom helps us to view each day as an opportunity for happiness by focusing on the reality of today without the burdens of diet remedies and compulsive dieting with the methods of dieting we have tried. Our experience with diet remedies and compulsive dieting is what we first tried to solve life problems and compulsive overeating or undereating. It is where we first hit bottom. Diet remedies and compulsive dieting made us sick and impaired our thinking. Letting go of diet remedies and compulsive dieting is a starting point, a major life choice, in our recovery journey. Health with weight management is possible. We are recovering from compulsive dieting.

With quotes from Anne Lamott, Camryn Manheim, Bob Dylan, Joan Didion, Oprah Winfrey, Alice Walker, Aimee Liu, and other notables, past and present, used in concert with the meditations, this reader brings some of the pleasures and rewards about truth-telling and arriving at self-truth to the surface. Selections deal with our desperation and fear, misconceptions about life, and especially, how our ideas of love, the terrors of love, and romantic addiction have played into our use of diet substances and dieting compulsively. We talk about what we have tried for control, invisibility, buying time, putting off or conquering life. We identify 'So Many Lies' about the dieting substances, behaviors and methods, and tell about putting our lives on the basis of truth. We tell what happened to make us stop using diet substances and dieting compulsively. We share about "Self-Care" and "Building On Identity" - what we do to practice clear thinking, detach from erroneous messages, clear away self-deception, develop kindness toward self and others, be safe, recognize and deal effectively with attack voices, deal with overwhelming emotions, know and practice courage, serve, and build identity based on our God-given talents, abilities and enthusiasms. We talk about love, honor, loving self, loving another, loving the world.

[Recovering Compulsive Dieter – Daily Meditations is also published under the title Letting Go of Diet Remedies ISBN 978-1-933639-55-0].

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Recovering compulsive dieter : daily meditations / by anonymous members of twelve step recovery programs. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-1-933639-59-8 ISBN-10: 1-933639-59-8 1. Compulsive behavior--Psychological aspects. 2. Reducing diet--Psychological aspects. 3. Twelve-step programs--Religious aspects--Meditations. 4. Self-care, Health--Quotations, maxims, etc. 5. Devotional calendars. RC533.R435 2009 242'.4--dc22 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Beautiful Book in Design & Content
This is a beautiful book in design and content. I bought the book under the title "Recovering Compulsive Overeater". The book will be my companion to Overeaters Anonymous "For Today." It is profound. It is joyous. It speaks of the trials and the hardwon recovering. The glow is here. Thank you for your service and hard work to put together these splendid meditations.

A Delight.
A delight. The contributors and editors have given us a very good book of meditations here - telling the truth -- telling the joy of hardwon ordinary weight management and health.

Needed Addition to Topic of Health & Healthy Eating
This is a needed addition to the important topic of health and healthy eating. It addresses some of the lies in the common culture.It shows how these lies create thinking that is full of stress and alarm.I'm so glad the writers have given us this.

Physical Recovery without the Aggression
A wonderful reader about recovery while stopping the aggression.I learned so much about my own unspoken thinking.From the heart. It is written with emotional clarity. The contributors provide a combination of the practical and the spiritual. This book adds a dimension to the literature of dieting.It has a story line rolled into it by the contributors. It is also a book of meditations.The quotes are stimulating.An excellent read.It works on many levels.It will be a welcome companion to my nightstand. And to my recovery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Grace Eventually
Straight to the point, every chapter thought provoking, never sappy.Anne's subject matter and style never cease to satisfy this recovering alcoholic child of the 50's and 60's.More often than not, I finished each chapter with tears in my eyes or even running down my face. ... Read more