Audiobooks by Anne Lamott

The Big Bang, the Buddha, and the Baby Boom: The Spiritual Experiments of My Generation

Iconic newscaster and Buddhist teacher chronicles the 1960s and ‘70s in India, the Bay Area, and beyond. Join Wes “Scoop” Nisker, a renowned Buddhist meditation teacher, performer, and newscaster, on a wild ride from West to East and back in his quest for true self and enlightenment. Narrated by the legendary Peter Coyote, this audiobook combines the best elements of memoir and social commentary to illuminate the spiritual hunger of modern America. Nisker’s journey begins in Nebraska as the only young man in his small town to be Bar Mitzvah’ed, through the heyday of the Beats and hippies in the Bay Area from his vantage point as a high-profile newscaster, the birth of the environmental movement, and the social and spiritual blossoming of the West. This is a personal, guided tour of the outer and inner movements that joined together into today’s mindfulness movement, written by one of the leaders of both. Stay tuned at the end of the audiobook for special bonus material — a collection of engaging and entertaining clips from Nisker’s unforgettable radio show on KSAN. Grab your headphones and join “Scoop” Nisker and Peter Coyote on a cosmic adventure unraveling the connections between the birth of the universe, the enlightened path of the Buddha, and the awakening of a generation. “I have loved [Wes “Scoop” Nisker] for fifty years now, loved the hope, the dharma teachings, the rock and roll, the agitation and comfort, and the great wit. I have often said that laughter is carbonated holiness, and the effervescent Wes Nisker is one of my favorite Holy men ever.” —from the Foreword by Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott, Wes “scoop” Nisker (Author), Peter Coyote (Narrator)

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Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps

TENTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION “Brother Rohr may just take you to places you’ve both avoided and longed for, to truth, union, joy, laughter, and, greatest of all, to your own precious self, here on earth with us, child of God.”—Anne Lamott, from the foreword We all suffer from unhealthy dependencies that we continually return to in hopes of having a better life. But after yet another TV show is streamed or another drink is swallowed, we find we once again feel worse, not better, than we did before. Where is the hope for that fully awakened life we long to live? World-renowned author Richard Rohr says we can only be healed and find true fulfillment by facing our dependencies head-on. In Breathing Under Water he will guide you to: - Disentangle from cultural cycles of sin and emptiness - Discover how to get free from your personal toxic dependencies - Learn how the Twelve Step program can supplement Christian teaching - Find compassion for others and yourself - Enjoy a deeper spiritual life, feeling certain of God’s love for you Those who are ready to break negative patterns and experience greater internal freedom will find bold hope and transformation in this insightful book.

Anne Lamott, Father Richard Rohr Ofm, O.F.M. Richard Rohr (Author), John Quigley O.F.M., O.F.M. John Quigley, Susan Marlowe (Narrator)

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All New People

With generosity, humor, and pathos, Anne Lamott takes on the barrage of dislocating changes that shook the Sixties. Leading us through the wake of these changes is Nanny Goodman, a girl living in Marin County, California. A half-adult child among often childish adults, Nanny grows up with two spectacularly odd parents: a writer father and a mother who is a constant source of material. As she moves into her adolescence, so, it seems, does America. While grappling with her own coming-of-age, Nanny witnesses an entire culture's descent into drugs, the mass exodus of fathers from her town, and rapid real-estate and technological development that foreshadow a drastically different future. In All New People, Anne Lamott works a special magic, transforming failure into forgiveness and illuminating the power of love to redeem us.

Anne Lamott (Author), Karissa Vacker (Narrator)

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Hard Laughter

Writer (and sometime housecleaner) Jennifer is twenty-three when her beloved father, Wallace, is diagnosed with a brain tumor. This catastrophic discovery sets off Anne Lamott's unexpectedly sweet and funny first novel, which is made dramatic not so much by Wallace's illness as by the emotional wake it sweeps under Jen and her brothers, self-contained Ben and feckless, lovable Randy. With characteristic affection and accuracy, Lamott sketches this offbeat family and their nearest and dearest as they draw ever closer in the intimacy Jen prizes 'among the other estimable things: good music, good hard laughter, good sex, good industry, and good books.'

Anne Lamott (Author), Karissa Vacker (Narrator)

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

With the same brilliant combination of humor and warmth she brought to bestseller Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott gives us a smart, funny, and comforting chronicle of single motherhood. It's not like she's the only woman to ever have a baby. At thirty-five. On her own. But Anne Lamott makes it all fresh in her now-classic account of how she and her son and numerous friends and neighbors and some strangers survived and thrived in that all important first year. From finding out that her baby is a boy (and getting used to the idea) to finding out that her best friend and greatest supporter Pam will die of cancer (and not getting used to that idea), with a generous amount of wit and faith (but very little piousness), Lamott narrates the great and small events that make up a woman's life. 'Lamott has a conversational style that perfectly conveys her friendly, self-depricating humor.' -- Los Angeles Times Book Review 'Lamott is a wonderfully lithe writer .... Anyone who has ever had a hard time facing a perfectly ordinary day will identify.' -- Chicago Tribune

Anne Lamott (Author), Rebecca Lowman (Narrator)

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Rosie

From the New York Times bestselling author of Help, Thanks, Wow; Small Mercies; and Stitches, a wise and witty novel about motherhood. Look out for Anne's next book, Hallelujah Anyway, coming in 2017. In Anne Lamott's wise and witty novel, the growing pains of motherhood are portrayed with rare humor and honesty. If Elizabeth Ferguson had her way, she'd spend her days savoring good books, cooking great meals, and waiting for the love of her life to walk in the door. But it's not a man she's waiting for, it's her daughter, Rosie-her wild-haired, smart-mouthed, and wise-beyond-her-years alter ego. With Rosie around, the days aren't quite so long, but Elizabeth can't keep the realities of the world at bay, and try as she might, she can't shield Rosie from its dangers or mysteries. As Rosie grows older and more curious, Elizabeth must find a way to nurture her extraordinary daughter-even if it means growing up herself.

Anne Lamott (Author), Rebecca Lowman (Narrator)

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Almost Everything: Notes on Hope

From Anne Lamott, the New York Times-bestselling author of Help, Thanks, Wow, comes the book we need from her now: How to bring hope back into our lives. 'I am stockpiling antibiotics for the Apocalypse, even as I await the blossoming of paperwhites on the windowsill in the kitchen,' Anne Lamott admits at the beginning of Almost Everything. Despair and uncertainty surround us: in the news, in our families, and in ourselves. But even when life is at its bleakest--when we are, as she puts it, 'doomed, stunned, exhausted, and over-caffeinated'--the seeds of rejuvenation are at hand. 'All truth is paradox,' Lamott writes, 'and this turns out to be a reason for hope. If you arrive at a place in life that is miserable, it will change.' That is the time when we must pledge not to give up but 'to do what Wendell Berry wrote: 'Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts.'' In this profound and funny book, Lamott calls for each of us to rediscover the nuggets of hope and wisdom that are buried within us that can make life sweeter than we ever imagined. Divided into short chapters that explore life's essential truths, Almost Everything pinpoints these moments of insight as it shines an encouraging light forward. Candid and caring, insightful and sometimes hilarious, Almost Everything is the book we need and that only Anne Lamott can write.

Anne Lamott (Author), Anne Lamott (Narrator)

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Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy

New York Times Bestseller 'Anne Lamott is my Oprah.' Chicago Tribune From the author of Help, Thanks, WowandBird by Bird, a powerful exploration of mercy and how we can embrace it. 'Mercy is radical kindness,' Anne Lamott writes in her enthralling and heartening book, Hallelujah Anyway. It's the permission you give others and yourself to forgive a debt, to absolve the unabsolvable, to let go of the judgment and pain that make life so difficult. In Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering MercyLamott ventures to explore where to find meaning in life. We should begin, she suggests, by 'facing a great big mess, especially the great big mess of ourselves.' It's up to each of us to recognize the presence and importance of mercy everywhere 'within us and outside us, all around us' and to use it to forge a deeper understanding of ourselves and more honest connections with each other. While that can be difficult to do, Lamott argues that it's crucial, as 'kindness towards others, beginning with myself, buys us a shot at a warm and generous heart, the greatest prize of all.' Full of Lamott's trademark honesty, humor and forthrightness, Hallelujah Anyway is profound and caring, funny and wise a hopeful book of hands-on spirituality.

Anne Lamott (Author), Anne Lamott (Narrator)

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Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace

From the bestselling author ofStitches,andHelp, Thanks, Wowcomes her long-awaited collection of new and selected essays on hope, joy, and grace. Anne Lamott writes about faith, family, and community in essays that are both wise and irreverent. It's an approach that has become her trademark. Now inSmall Victories, Lamott offers a new message of hope that celebrates the triumph of light over the darkness in our lives. Our victories over hardship and pain may seem small, she writes, but they change us our perceptions, our perspectives, and our lives. Lamott writes of forgiveness, restoration, and transformation, how we can turn toward love even in the most hopeless situations, how we find the joy in getting lost and our amazement in finally being found. Profound and hilarious, honest and unexpected, the stories inSmall Victoriesare proof that the human spirit is irrepressible.

Anne Lamott (Author), Anne Lamott (Narrator)

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Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair

Look out for Anne's latest book, Hallelujah Anyway, on sale now. New York Times Bestseller 'Lamott's …most insightful book yet,Stitchesoffers plenty of her characteristic witty wisdom…this slim, readable volume [is] a lens on life, widening and narrowing, encouraging each reader to reflect on what it is, after all, that really matters.' People What do we do when life lurches out of balance? How can we reconnect to one other and to what's sustaining, when evil and catastrophe seem inescapable? These questions lie at the heart of Stitches, Lamott's profound follow-up to her New York Times-bestselling Help, Thanks, Wow. In this book Lamott explores how we find meaning and peace in these loud and frantic times; where we start again after personal and public devastation; how we recapture wholeness after loss; and how we locate our true identities in this frazzled age. We begin, Lamott says, by collecting the ripped shreds of our emotional and spiritual fabric and sewing them back together, one stitch at a time. It's in these stitches that the quilt of life begins, and embedded in them are strength, warmth, humor, and humanity.

Anne Lamott (Author), Anne Lamott (Narrator)

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Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.

Anne Lamott (Author), Susan Bennett (Narrator)

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Help, Thanks, Wow

Anne Lamott is known for her perceptive and funny writings about spirituality. Readers of all ages have followed her faith journey through decades of trial and error (sometimes more error than Annie wanted), and in her new book, she has coalesced all she knows about prayer to three essentials : Help, Thanks, and Wow. It is these three prayers - asking for assistance from a higher power, appreciating all that we have and all that is good, and feeling awe at the beauty of the world around us - that can get us through the day and can show us the way forward. In Help, Thanks, Wow, Anne Lamott recounts how she came to these insights, explains what they mean to her and how they have helped, and explores how others have embraced these same ideas. Insightful, funny and honest, Help, Thanks, Wow is the everyday faith book that new Lamott readers will love and longtime Lamott fans will cherish.

Anne Lamott (Author), Anne Lamott (Narrator)

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