Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year

When I first read this marvelous book 18 years ago, it was my first encounter with Anne Lamott. Since that moment, I have never been able to get enough of her work. I have devoured everything she has ever published. I adore the way her mind works. I cherish the way she captures the essence of her spiritual journey, acknowledges her all-too-human foibles, and invites us all into her life -- and God -- experiences. She's a writer. She's a Christian. But I would never think of her as a "Christian writer," as I've seen some critics call her. She's profane. She's hilarious. She's politically liberal. And she so clearly loves this gift of a life that she is living. "Operating Instructions" invites the reader into a world of hope, joy, sadness, searching and, ultimately, redemption. Don't miss it.

Reading this book while I was going through the some of the same issues helped me get through the first year of my son. I've given it to many others in the same situation,

There were many times throughout this book that I was full belly laughing. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book that had that ability.I loved her frankness. If you are a parent and have had an infant, you totally get how people shake babies especially on next to no sleep and you’re breastfeeding. Then add colic to that scenario. It’s hard to put them down and walk away but there are times that you must.There are also times in church, always during the quiet serious part when your baby is the loudest and proudest to be that loud. Whether it be farts, giggles, or both! Who couldn’t help but to laugh?!?Great read. Loved her take. Loved her style. Now on to read about her son and grandsonHighly recommend.

I have bought this book several times for new moms. As long as the new mom has a good sense of humor & doesn’t mind a little cussing … this is a perfect gift! ♥️

Anne Lamott is my favorite author and I have been buying this book for new mothers for many years. It dawned on me that I didn't have a copy for myself. It's a fantastic book! She says what most of us only think but don't say out loud! Lol. Yes, it's one of those truth-telling, in your face, for real kind of books. I love it! Every Mother should read this candidly written book about what it’s really like to be pregnant and a new Mother. You will become a fan, trust me.

I was irritated by Lamott's constant references to "lesbian friend" or "gay male friend" or to the race of the people she comes across, while being silent on the race of her "Stanford educated" suitor or the father of her baby or her best friend Pammy (all presumably white and straight).The author's blind spot is that people who are white and straight are not identified as such -- to her they are the norm -- and everyone else (often not dignified with personal names) is tagged by her labels and reduced to a type. I thought this non-recognition and weird self-centered self prevents this author from being great. Truly, she has these unnamed people saying wise things (one I liked was, "think about whether you want the hit or the serenity) but the wisdom comes from the speaker's individual experience, not that she is a nameless lesbian? Especially considering that she is based in the ethnically and socially diverse Bay Area, it was strange that she had to see people this way, as types rather than whole, unique human beings.I was troubled by her obsession with her son's "good, white people straight hair," that her son was spared inheriting her "bad, curly (ethnic? African?) hair." I was troubled that she would care so much and did not understand why this meant so much to her. Again, the unexamined assumptions about why one kind of hair she found preferable prevented this book from being great. It's like it's filled with the quaint accepted prejudices of the time. Also, I personally found it insulting, although I do not think the author intended to be racist (again, that she does not even know what she is saying or how it insults certain minority groups limits her audience).I did like her diary format, showing that when caring for a newborn, days can go by without even a sentence to write, even for a professional writer. I also liked how it's not a collection of essays based on themes, that the thoughts are scattered yet have a pattern and recurrence.I was not thrilled with her frequent turning to religion and religious memories from her youth. These lapses create an uncomfortable new-Agey, uncritical, simplistic feel.I look forward to mature writing from this author.

Anne Lamott did a hilarious job of summing up of my experience of my oldest baby's first year. She is so funny and honest in confessing the times she wanted to just "put him outside as an experiment in natural selection," or describing his lifting his "reptilian head" while capturing, at the same time, the breathtaking awe of the new life she had, at least a part in, creating. Her words, not mine, I'm not nearly so eloquent. Her chatty style of writing stays in my head all day as I create a running narrative of my own life. It was so funny I laughed until I cried (not a book to be read on a bus) but I also cried when it was over. I can't wait to get my hands on the recent one about her becoming a grandmother. I've read many of Anne Lamott's books, but this the one I have enjoyed by far, the most.

Anne Lamott can certainly turn a phrase. She can go from raw and honest to wry, then turn on a dime to wrap up with breathtaking poignancy. I read her account of her first year of motherhood early in my pregnancy and look forward to reading it again after the birth of my first child. I'm sure it will resonate even more then.

This is a great book which a single mother can connect with & understand & laugh out loud. I loved the book.

Bought it for my wife after the birth of our little boy and she LOVED IT. Read it in a week. Lamott’s trademark heart, wit and humour.

It's a different view of being a mom.

was a great companion through those teething nights. Made me laugh, cry and loose myself, I highly recommend, esp for mums!

I bought this book thinking it would bring me some comfort and insight. Although my situation is a bit different from Lamott's, I felt like there were some similarities. I also know she has a reputation as an eloquent, thought-provoking writer. I expected this book to wallop me with emotion and poetic writing. Sometimes, it did, despite some pop culture/news references that haven't aged well, and the occasional expression that seems ever so slightly racist or stereotyping - something you wouldn't encounter from a liberal author today, at least not if she's writing as herself.And yet, overall, this book really was an intriguing window into someone's experience of the first year of motherhood, its challenges, joys, and the funny moments, the way you try to mark the milestones, anxiously hoping all's well, while also delighting in how different and unique your kid seems to be already. It's a celebration of community, friendship, and family, and almost about that as much as it is about motherhood. And while I was expecting it to be spiritual, it turned out be just that, in a much more literal way. But like many people (Lamott's not a bestselling author for nothing!), I found Lamott's religious thoughts and beliefs intriguing and often inspiring. I also was often delighted when I'd come upon a particularly poetic, well-put description or idea (her concise description of male genitalia in the opening pages is absolutely brilliant).Overall, this is an often insightful, sometimes funny, sometimes moving account of one mom's first year of motherhood. There's a lot of loss and desperation but also triumph and, above all, love. So basically, it's what a lot of moms go through. Still, I don't know that it's a book you could give to just ANY new mom. I think someone who's very conservative or traditional may not like it. But you never know - maybe it would still bring them some kind of comfort or simply the joy Lamott's spunky writing style so often conveys, despite her tribulations.