Rating: 
Summary: Life Goes On
Review: When I first read this book, I found the moments with the author's cancer ridden friend to be somewhat off joint with the story of raising a child as a former alcoholic. But the point of the story really isn't about the author or even about the child, but rather about how one manages one's life (the ups and downs) as one takes on this new responsibility. And this is sadly, where the book misses somewhat. We find out Ms. Lamott's friend passes away and there is where the story should begin. How do you deal with the passing of a close friend when you have such a demanding presence in your life who doesn't understand your grief? As someone who has gone through this, I was sorry to see the story end the way it did. The accounts though are well realized and very funny. I can't say I agree with some of the other reviewers that this isn't something expecting mothers should read, but I think that it is more suited for the mother who has been through the experience of raising the one year old.
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Summary: left me depressed
Review: While there are some genuinely funny moments in this book, a lot of the humor is self-deprecating. I do this a lot myself and maybe that's what initially piqued my interest in this book. While I don't condemn the author for her accounts of past drug-abuse and alcoholic binges (honesty is always refreshing), I can't help feeling her bachanalian ghostly past haunting her journal in a manic-depressive way. Her very close friend gets cancer and by the time I finished the book, I was so depressed myself it took me a week to get out of the funk.It was a decent read but I would rather my non-pregnant friends read this and store the wisdom for later. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone currently having a child or a new mom, it's just not uplifting enough, especially if you're feeling emotionally fragile.
Rating:
Summary: Motherhood doesn't mean you need a therapist...
Review: but in the way motherhood is presented by Anne Lamott, it's a good thing she had one. This is a well-written book about a sensitive and often fearful adventure: new motherhood. As the other reviews state, it is shockingly honest. It is also painfully neurotic. It was difficult reading because I kept wondering how her little son was going to manage growing up in such a chaotic environment...It was an interesting read especially from a psychological perspective,
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Summary: Now I KNOW I'm not crazy..I'm just pregnant!
Review: I am in my fifth month and had begun to think I was the only one with some (ahem) apprehension about being a mom and all the sea changes that involves. I just read OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS and I can;t praise it highly enough. It is smart, touching, and funny. I especially enjoy the author's self-deprecating style and her endless wit about her changes body-wise. I also recommend THE ZYGOTE CHRONICLES, another book about pregnancy and how it REALLY is and also hilarious and touching. I feel very lucky to be pregnant in a time when all the myriad of emotions can be so eloquently and richly explored by these women.
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Summary: Candid, weird and wonderful
Review: Anne Lamott's "Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year" is one of the most honest--painfully so--books I've ever read on both pregnancy and new motherhood. Given the strictures of Lamott's situation at the time--no man around to help her or take responsibility for his child--the humor in this book is nothing short of amazing. After a particularly frustrating episode of feeding solids to her son Sam, Lamott writes that the process is a lot like spackling; you fill the hole with stuff, scrape around the sides, try to pack some more stuff in the hole, and so on. This was so true and so perfectly described that I laughed out loud with recognition. Although Lamott's situation isn't everyone's, the difficulties, fears and joys she describes herein are universal to most new parents. This makes a marvelous gift for the new mom who has everything else and who could use a good laugh.
Rating:
Summary: Soooo refreshingly candid!
Review: Thank you, thank you, thank you, Annie LaMott for writing a book about first-time motherhood that's realistic and completely candid about the FULL range of emotions a new Mom experiences. And extremely funny to boot - I have laughed out loud several times. I'm due with my first baby in June and I feel like having read your book will help me to not feel guilty and/or freaked out about any strong negative emotions that surface as my little one and I get to know each other. I've been reading lots of "how-to" books about babies - how to be pregnant, how to give birth, how to breastfeed, etc. etc. Your book will be right along side the others as an emotional reality check and reassurance. Thank you for having the courage to be so real!!
Rating:
Summary: a must read - especially for expectant mommies
Review: i read this book WELL before i was even pregnant. now that i've had my precious daughter, i think i will re-read this great book. it's a "must read" to add to your collection of pregnancy/parenting books, such as "girlfriends guide to pregnancy", "what to expect when you're expecting", etc. it gives a humorous, heartwarming, honest and unflinching account of what it's like to be a mom. (and a little on pregnancy too!) being someone who grew up in the same area that anne lamott did, it had a special nostalgia value for me. (SF Bay Area, Marin Cty.)
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Summary: THIS STORY COULD BE MINE WORD FOR WORD!!!
Review: When I first read what Anne Lamott's book was about, I could hardly believe my eyes. This was the story of my life, practically identical!!! I too was 35 and also had a son, whose father wanted no part of. I laughed & cried, because this story hit so close to home, and I didn't think there was anyone else out there that thought and felt all those wonderful & awful feelings, sometimes all at the same time. I couldn't put the book down, it was awesome!
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Summary: Wonderful moving tale of a mother's first year
Review: As a first time expectant father, I greatly appreciated Anne Lamott's endless honesty as she desribed the many conflicting emotions that go into parenthood. Lesser writters might sugarcoat the many difficulties and complex anger that is part and parcel of caring for children. To her great credit, Lamott does not; instead offering us a window into her mind and heart. Other reviewers seemsto argue that Lamott's work is "self absorbed." To this I can only respond that she is offering up a journal, which is by its nature a self absorbed exercise of exploring ones own feelings. Rather than looking to be offended, readers should praise her excellent crisp style and rye sense of humor.
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Summary: Relief from run of the mill "Baby" books
Review: Anne Lamott's book is a pleasure to read. It is a welcome view of motherhood as rife with ambivalence, difficulties, mood swings, etc. that is usually lost in books that are afraid to look into the negatives. Somehow though, despite this, it ends up being an affirmative and honest praise of parenthood.
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