Okay, so you signed up for a book about writing, not a book about life and death. But it turns out that life and death are some of the most important things writing can talk about, and since one goal of writing is to help us process and understand our experiences, and life and death are pretty big parts of most people's experiences, Bird by Bird turns out to be about mortality and immortality, too. Anne Lamott finds herself writing to interpret and share the lives of those she cares about—as well as to cope with their deaths and give a certain kind of continuing life to their stories.
Questions About Mortality/Immortality
- Why do you think writing is such an important way of coping with death for Lamott? What hints does she give us about this question?
- In what ways could writing be said to give immortality in Bird by Bird? Do you find these ways satisfying?
- Which people die in Bird by Bird? How does writing help Lamott explore who they were? Is that different for different people, or is it a pretty similar pattern?
Chew on This
Writing makes our communities bigger, and sharing memories with those larger communities helps make mortality more bearable, according to Anne Lamott.
Writing does more in this book than keep alive someone's memory; it helps Lamott understand who that person was and incorporate what she learned from that person into her own life.