Anne Lamott
Best-selling author Anne Lamott (Bird by Bird) writes and speaks about subjects that begin with capital letters: Alcoholism, Motherhood, Jesus. Armed with self-effacing humor - she is laugh-out-loud funny - and ruthless honesty, Lamott converts her subjects into enchantment. She writes about what most of us don't like to think about. She wrote her first novel for her father, the writer Kenneth Lamott, when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. She has said that the book was "a present to someone I loved who was going to die." In all her novels, Anne Lamott writes about loss - loss of loved ones and loss of personal control. She doesn't try to sugarcoat the sadness, frustration and disappointment, but tells her stories with honesty, compassion and a pureness of voice. Anne Lamott does communicate her faith; in her books and in person, she lifts, comforts, and inspires, all the while keeping us laughing.