I couldn't help but feel I was reading one of Lamott's nonfiction pieces, actually recognizing characters, quotes, and anecdotes from her own life. This is inevitable in any fiction, I suppose, but Anne's style is so unique and strong that it was somewhat distracting to me.
I do intend to try another of her fictional works--I'll read anything of hers I can get my hands on. She is poignant without being melodramatic, funny without being insulting. I love Lamott's writing; in general, though, I think I prefer to read her real life experiences.
A half-adult child among often childish adults, Nanny grows up with two spectacularly odd parents-a writer father and a mother who is "a constant source of material." As she moves into her adolescence, so, it seems, does America. While grappling with her own coming-of-age, Nanny witnesses an entire culture's descent into drugs, the mass exodus of fathers from her town, and rapid real-estate and technological development that foreshadow a drastically different future.
In All New People, Anne Lamott works a special magic, transforming failure into forgiveness and illuminating the power of love to redeem us.