A writer once noted that “a minute with Anne Lamott is like a week with anyone else”. By that standard, people who go to tomorrow night’s conversation between Lamott and San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll will be spending well over a year with the intense and humorous author.
Lamott is known for both non-fiction works like Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, and her fiction, including her recent novel, Imperfect Birds. Lamott was also the subject of a 1999 documentary, Bird by Bird with Annie, and writes frequently about politics. The documentary, and Lamott’s regular presence in various online communities, has led her to be dubbed the “people’s author”.
She told The New York Times that she writes about “regular old troubled families, the astonishing gifts of ordinary lives, my little church, God, alcoholism, sobriety, the minuet of old friendships, the miracle that people still love us (and maybe even more so) as we show them our deepest and messiest selves”.
Depending on the questions Carroll poses, Lamott may explain, in a timely fashion, why she hates Mother’s Day.
The conversation with Carroll is part of a series curated by Park Day School. It will be at 7 p.m. on on April 28 at St. John’s Church, 2727 College Avenue. Proceeds from the events benefit the financial assistance and academic programs of the school. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased online.
