online diary for the masses

Ironically enough, on the heels of writing a post containing the question, “Of all the books you’ve read, which one did you read the fastest (presumably because it was excellent)? How long did it take?”, my answer changed. Ladies and gentlemen, D.O.’s new record for the shortest amount of time required to read an entire book: 4 days. Hold your applause.

This book was loaned to my with the highest of recommendations by a friend who was going out of town for the week. We bartered for it. I gave her a camera, she gave me an autographed copy of Anne Lamott’s Traveling Mercies.  I made it a point to have the book finished before she arrived back in Philly, which I’m proud to say I accomplished. It wasn’t a difficult task to complete though, as Lamott’s writing style is as easy and enjoyable to read as Heather’s blog (with cussing).

I would loosely liken this book to Don Miller’s Blue Like Jazz in that Lamott essentially tells stories from her time spent on this planet and often throws in lessons of faith where appropriate (which turns out to be nearly every chapter, which makes sense, seeing that faith applies to every chapter of life). And when I say she tells stories, I mean she tells some doozies: both in the stories’ content and they style with which she tells them. She’s a very good writer. Every other sentence she compares the person or idea she’s talking about to something else. Example (opens the book at random to page 125):

The babies, rolling around in the sand, had begun to look like breaded veal cutlets.

Reading things like that make reading pretty enjoyable. I’ll admit though, I probably only got half of her jokes along those lines. I cannot pretend to be smart or well-read enough to have understood all of what she referred to. She’s a witty one. Sarah would love her.

However, and this is the case with nearly every book I read, I didn’t agree with everything she had to say. I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn’t a book in which the author was trying to teach me or anyone else how or what to believe, rather it was a story teller telling her stories in the light of her faith. I had to see past things like how she referred to God in a “he or she” context and used certain cuss words in a way I thought unnecessary. (Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the cuss words she used were used wonderfully, others however, weren’t as cleverly placed.)

So all in all, it was a good book, a very enjoyable read, one that I’d recommend to Sarah or Matt Graham but not to my dad. What was arguably more enjoyable than the book itself was the setting in which the greatest section of it was read, but that will likely receive its own post in the not-too-distant future… Mo-town, thanks for the loan. The book is fine, and it will be retured to you intact upon your return from distant lands.