Traveling Mercies, Ann Lamott

Lamott, Anne. Traveling Mercies. New York: Anchor, 2000.

I have always enjoyed Anne Lamott’s writing style. Her calculated and deliberate grammar choices, she wants to keep her reader present and breathless with her. I find this engaging in Traveling Mercies. The question I have been batting around is, does this work as a spiritual autobiography? And further, does she capture, in her use of tone and character, her sense of God? I would posit that God is as much a character in the text as Lamott herself. God is never “out there,” He or She (I loved how she did that so consistently throughout the text) is very present and often is a character in the text.

For me, Traveling Mercies is successful in many ways because we share many cultural values/esthetics. Her journey can and does mirror mine: hectic, confusing, stressful, dysfunctional, real. Her spirituality is grounded in a concrete present tense. Although she alludes to Jesus as being her guide, model, savior and perhaps substitute father figure, the God of her belief system understands the chaotic nature of life – the fast pace – the dated-ness of many organized religions. She has very much made God in her own likeness, a busy being with an, at times, somewhat dark sense of humor. And she seeks her God in all of her experiences—and finds her or him there.

There were places in the text that seemed forced or contrived. For me, the chapter entitled “Grace” felt that way. Of course, this could be because I related so, so, much to the preceding chapter, “Forgiveness”. I know mothers like the one she describes, and often find myself more like Lamott than the other mother portrayed. “Grace” felt to me forced as opposed to “Forgiveness” which just sort of tumbled out.

I have struggled to decide if Traveling Mercies is a good book. Or is it good because I liked it. And does the answer to that matter? I think that it does. And I think the book likely does not meet the standard of a “good” book – it was good for me in that I related so well. It is good in that she openly admits her vulnerabilities; she owns them. But Lamott’s style is can get sloppy in its speed. She glosses things that may ultimately be important, and often (also like me) ignores the rules of grammar. I don’t think that her work, with the notable exception of Bird by Bird will stand literatures true test – endurance.