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Published Apr 2024
208 pages
Genre: Essays
Publication Information
From the bestselling author of Dusk, Night, Dawn and Help, Thanks, Wow, a joyful celebration of love
"Love is our only hope," Anne Lamott writes in this perceptive new book. "It is not always the easiest choice, but it is always the right one, the noble path, the way home to safety, no matter how bleak the future looks."
In Somehow: Thoughts on Love, Lamott explores the transformative power that love has in our lives: how it surprises us, forces us to confront uncomfortable truths, reminds us of our humanity, and guides us forward. "Love just won't be pinned down," she says. "It is in our very atmosphere" and lies at the heart of who we are. We are, Lamott says, creatures of love.
In each chapter of Somehow, Lamott refracts all the colors of the spectrum. She explores the unexpected love for a partner later in life. The bruised (and bruising) love for a child who disappoints, even frightens. The sustaining love among a group of sinners, for a community in transition, in the wider world. The lessons she underscores are that love enlightens as it educates, comforts as it energizes, sustains as it surprises.
Somehow is Anne Lamott's twentieth book, and in it she draws from her own life and experience to delineate the intimate and elemental ways that love buttresses us in the face of despair as it galvanizes us to believe that tomorrow will be better than today. Full of the compassion and humanity that have made Lamott beloved by millions of readers, Somehow is classic Anne Lamott: funny, warm, and wise.
"Lamott brings her signature wit and warmth to these effervescent meditations on matters of the heart... . A topic that might feel trite in the hands of a lesser writer takes on fresh meaning in Lamott's, thanks to her ability to distill complex truths with a deceptive lightness. This rings true." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Lamott senses love in myriad ways... . Her innate honesty allows her to share her vulnerabilities and laugh at her own sometimes over-the-top attempts to find and share love... . But it is all done with such clarity, feeling, and goodness that readers will find themselves laughing out loud and fighting back tears. Ultimately, this is a testimony to love and hope in an often painful world. Lamott's many readers are loyal, and this will be an easy sell. But pass it on, too, to people who may not even realize that they are searching for ways to connect with and love others." —Booklist (starred review)
"In this book, [Lamott] focuses less on vengeful thinking for comic effect and more on the joys of smelling the roses... . As always, a strong vein of spirituality runs throughout, with Lamott's characteristic descriptions of an all-loving God who is often flummoxed and saddened by humanity, but hopeful anyway... . [This] is a kind view of loving oneself and others despite our collective imperfections." —Kirkus Reviews
"Beloved and best-selling author Lamott offers a joyful, feel-good read that explores the power of love—romantic, platonic, and familial—in people's lives, with her usual grace, humor, and insight." —Library Journal
This information about Somehow was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Anne Lamott is the author of twenty books, including the New York Times bestsellers Help, Thanks, Wow; Dusk, Night, Dawn; Traveling Mercies; and Bird by Bird, as well as seven novels. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and an inductee to the California Hall of Fame, she lives in Northern California with her family.
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