How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I wanted him to have a regular job where he put on a necktie and went off somewhere with the other fathers and sat in a little office and smoked. But the idea of spending entire days in someone else's office doing someone else's work did not suit my father's soul. I think it would have killed him. He did end up dying rather early, in his mid-fifties, but at least he had lived on his own terms. (Introduction.2)
Is a life lived on your own terms more important than a long life, according to Anne Lamott? Is there any way writing helps us achieve a life that's on our own terms?
Quote #2
Because for some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die. (1.33)
Books brings us the deepest thoughts of some of the deepest people who ever walked the earth. It's no wonder people find a lot of comfort in them, and it's no wonder that people can be super passionate about them. It really is a matter of life and death.
Quote #3
In general, though, there's no point in writing hopeless novels. We all know we're going to die; what's important is the kind of men and women we are in the face of this. (7.18)
For Lamott, novels are about hope, whatever their other themes might be. This seems like a philosophical point, but it might be a point about the nuts and bolts of writing, too. If there's nothing for your character to hope for, it's going to be hard to get anyone excited about how the plot unfolds. Suspense, surprisingly enough, comes from hope.