I can’t think of a more terrifying task than writing a book about writing. Think about it. The readers, mostly writers, will not only be looking for wisdom and advice, but analyzing the craft itself, the style. Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird stands up on all counts.

Originally written in 1994, this 25th anniversary edition sounds as fresh and relevant as ever. The advice is sound: be consistent and use tricks to force yourself to write. Publication isn’t a goal worth idolizing—truth-telling is.

To be honest, the content of Bird by Bird, as important as it is, could be found elsewhere. These are the ‘secrets’ of all writers. What makes this book unique and immensely valuable is twofold: voice and style.

Anne Lamott’s self-deprecating humor is infectious. Her ability to articulate what writers feel while simultaneously exposing the ridiculousness of it all with a perfectly unexpected metaphor is unparalleled. But it’s not all humour—there are profound moments of insight that made me set the book down and think more deeply. Here’s a quotation that brings all of this together:

To be engrossed by something outside ourselves is a powerful antidote for the rational mind, the mind that so frequently has its head up its own ass—seeing things in such a narrow and darkly narcissistic way that it presents a colo-rectal theology, offering hope to no one. (96)

Lamott’s style is finely honed. Her sentence structures are a work of art, with commas, emdashes, and even dreaded semicolons employed to make it sound like she’s in the room having a conversation with you. Consider the grace of this sentence:

This is our goal as writers, I think; to help others have this sense of—please forgive me—wonder, of seeing things anew, things that can catch us off guard, that break in on our small, bordered worlds. (93–4)

Every writer should read Bird by Bird. It’s just that good. It inspires, educates, and ultimately reminds the reader of why writing is important in the first place.

Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird. 25th anniversary ed. Anchor, 2019.