Traveling Mercies

Anne Lamott claims the two best prayers she knows are: ‘Help me, help me, help me’ and ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’ She has a friend whose morning prayer each day is ‘Whatever,’ and whose evening prayer is ‘Oh, well.’ Anne thinks of Jesus as ‘Casper the friendly savior’ and describes God as ‘one crafty mother.’

Despite–or because of–her irreverence, faith is a natural subject for Anne Lamott. Since Operating Instructions and Bird by Bird, her fans have been waiting for her to write the book that explained how she came to the big-hearted, grateful, generous faith that she so often alluded to in her two earlier nonfiction books. The people in Anne Lamott’s real life are like beloved characters in a favorite series for her readers–her friend Pammy, her son, Sam, and the many funny and wise folks who attend her church are all familiar. And Traveling Mercies is a welcome return to those lives, as well as an introduction to new companions Lamott treats with the same candor, insight, and tenderness.

Lamott’s faith isn’t about easy answers, which is part of what endears her to believers as well as nonbelievers. Against all odds, she came to believe in God and then, even more miraculously, in herself. As she puts it, ‘My coming to faith did not start with a leap but rather a series of staggers.’ At once tough, personal, affectionate, wise, and very funny, Traveling Mercies tells in exuberant detail how Anne Lamott learned to shine the light of faith on the darkest part of ordinary life, exposing surprising pockets of meaning and hope.



‘Even at her most serious, she never takes herself or her spirituality too seriously. Lamott is a narrator who has relished and soaked up the details of her existence, equally of mirth and devastation, spirit and grief, and spilled them onto her pages.’ –The New York Times Book Review

‘Life-affirming…Lamott fills her text with remarkable detail and a refreshing sense of humanity that has you guffawing on one page and bawling on the next.’ –People

‘You’ll love Traveling Mercies for Lamott’s unblinking confrontation with God’s love, and you’ll buy copies for all your friends struggling with faith.’ –USA Today

‘Exuberant and captivating…. shifts from laugh-out-loud wisecracks to heart-wrenching poignancy. At one point she seems a reincarnation of Erma Bombeck; at others, she could be Annie Dillard or Kathleen Norris.’ –Chicago Tribune

‘Compares with the witty and moving Christian apologetics of C. S. Lewis…. Lamott is a fine writer who combines theology with humor, compassion, and practicality.’ –The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

‘Applies passion, wisdom, and intensity to a scorchingly personal look at the road from spiritual apathy to ardent belief…. Traveling Mercies, like Ms. Lamott herself, is a consistent delight.’ –Dallas Morni